


Don't Judge a Man(by His Piercings)

by impalagirl, wilddragonflying



Series: Roleplays [15]
Category: CW Network RPF, Supernatural RPF
Genre: Angst, F/F, First Time, Fluff, Homophobia, Jared and Jensen have a tumblr, M/M, Misunderstandings, Preacher!Ackles, Priestly!Jensen, Tumblr, so many misunderstandings, virgin!Jensen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-18
Updated: 2014-01-18
Packaged: 2018-01-09 05:00:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 30,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1141730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/impalagirl/pseuds/impalagirl, https://archiveofourown.org/users/wilddragonflying/pseuds/wilddragonflying
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jensen moved from Richardson to San Antonio to escape his father and his congregation; being the gay son of a preacher isn't a walk in the park. For the past year, Jensen has sought advice from kirkandbones, a tumblr advice guru. He figured it was safe to go to him for advice as long as he used a fake name and kept to the anon option, but he never imagined that one picture could show just how wrong he was.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Judge a Man(by His Piercings)

**Author's Note:**

> Another roleplay with impalagirl, and look! She has an AO3 account now! :D

Jared sighed to himself as he finally got to sit down. Granted, it was in front of yet another computer, but he actually got to use this one for what he wanted. And what he wanted was some quality time on tumblr, nothing but himself, the mouse, and the alt button.

Unfortunately, tumblr had other ideas; his inbox had over fifteen messages in it. He spent a good hour responding to them; some were just little notes of people telling him about their days or accomplishments, but some were people asking for advice.

Jared still wasn't sure how he'd become the advice guru of the fandom, but he hadn't yet had someone tell him his advice sucked, so he kept at it.

Jared frowned when he got to the last message; this was the anon (who called himself Priestly, which _had_ to be a made-up name) who was under fire from his own family for being apparently the worst son ever.

**_bumped into my dad again today. moved to the other side of town and I still can't get away from him. don't even think he recognised me at first, and then he called me a fag and walked away. my sister won't answer my calls anymore. what the fuck is the point? -P._ **

_Oh._ Jared sat back, rubbing the rubber band bracelet around his wrist absently as he thought. Priestly had been having problems with his family for a long time; his father's behavior wasn't new. Biting his lower lip in concentration, Jared began to type.

_The point is to be yourself. If they don't like it, then they can shove it. Whatever reason your father thinks he has for treating you like this isn't good enough. If the other side of town isn't far enough, then maybe you should move farther. You deserve a chance to make your own life, and you can't if you're still where he can reach you._

***

The first thing Jensen did when he got back to his shitty little apartment after work was log onto tumblr. He didn't know when he'd gotten so addicted to it, but it was about a year since he'd sent that first message to kirkandbones about the situation with his father. Everyone else was doing it, so why not? Despite not knowing their real name or even their gender, k-b(as he insisted everyone call him) had quickly become Jensen's favourite confidant. k-b didn't even know Jensen's URL though, so it was an even trade-off. Ridiculous as it might be to rely so heavily on someone from the internet, Jensen enjoyed telling k-b stuff. If they were genuine in their responses not just to Jensen but to everyone, then it seemed they were the sweetest person alive, and they always gave really good advice. Jensen rarely made a decision regarding his father these days without consulting k-b first. 

After five minutes of scrolling through numerous anonymous messages on k-b's blog, Jensen finally found his own, and relief flooded through him. He'd actually been saving up to move away, far away, and now that k-b had suggested it, it seemed like the best idea ever. Clicking into k-b's inbox and hitting 'anonymous', Jensen started to type.

**_i don't say this very often but your advice is amazing. i'm going to take it. thanks. -P._ **

Once the message had been sent, Jensen grabbed his phone and dialed his best friend.

"Hey Chris, do you want to move to San Antonio?"

***

Jared grinned when he read the new message in his inbox.

 _You're welcome; you'll definitely have to let me know how it goes,_ he typed. Glancing at the clock and seeing that both hands were on the 10, Jared figured now was the time to log off; he'd been online for several hours.

_Bye all; kirkandbones out!_

***

**_so, it's been a while. that's mostly because i moved a few weeks ago and don't have internet yet. got a better apartment than i had in my hometown, and i'm working. not been here for long but it's already so much better. i can finally be myself. thank you, for everything. -P._ **

"Pretty sure the free wifi is for the customers, not the employees."

Jensen looked up and gave Danneel a smile, pushing his phone back into his pocket. "I'm due a break anyway, but I didn't take it because _someone_ needed me to cover for her while they made out with their boyfriend round back," he retorted. 

"My hero," Danneel drawled, throwing a handful of sugar packets at him. "Get back to work."

Jensen laughed, the sound light and happy, and threw the packets he'd caught back at her. "Yes ma'am."

***

Jared grinned at Daneel as he walked into the shop. "Hey, Danni," he greeted, stepping up to the counter. He laughed when he spotted that her lipstick was smudged. "Ya got some smudged there, sweetheart. Don't wanna let the boss catch you sneaking extra breaks. Which poor sap did you get to cover for you while you sucked face with what's-his-name?”

Danneel rolled her eyes, but thumbed self-consciously at the corner of her mouth. "The new guy, Jensen," she answered, jerking her thumb behind herself to indicate the door that led through to the back of the shop. "He's a sweetie, even if he looks—well. Jensen! Get your ass back out here!"

Jensen emerged obediently, wiping his hands on a rag and pulling a bitchface. "You're the one who sent me to—" He cut himself off when he caught sight of Danneel's customer, who was perhaps the most stunning man he'd ever seen. Jensen sneered. "You did not drag me out here to check out your latest conquest, did you? Run, man. Run fast and far. You're too pretty to let her get her claws into you."

Jared laughed, reaching out to punch Danneel lightly on the shoulder. "Too late; bitch got her claws in me in the fourth grade," he teased, then he got a good look at the guy, and just—wow.

Jensen was used to getting this reaction; with his bright red mohawk, his piercings, his tattoos and his eyeliner, he was well aware that he looked like a freak. Today's t-shirt read _I am not normal_ , and it was the understatement of the century. Jensen just withstood the staring with a smile. "So you two have known each other a while, then," he observed smoothly. "How do you put up with her?"

"Oh, um..." Jared had to search for enough brain cells to string together a choerent sentence. Jensen's look was unusual, yeah, but he made it _work._ "Push and shove, really."

Jensen nodded, satisfied with the answer, even as Danni reached over the counter to smack Jared's chest. "We're out of caramel syrup, I'll be right back," she announced, leaving Jensen to take her place at the register.

"So what can I get you?" he asked. "Since I'm assuming you didn't just come here to eye up the help." The last part was said with a pointed look toward the guy who had just walked in and taken a seat at one of the tables. He'd been sniffing around Danni for days, but she had yet to reel him in. 

Jared glanced at the guy, eyeing him up. "He's a fencer," he decided, turning back to Jensen. "And I'll have a caramel latte with a double-chocolate-chip fudge muffin," he ordered, eyeing the baked goods on the display rack. "If I was gonna be running today instead of sitting behind a counter, I'd get two."

"I think you could probably afford to eat two without the run," Jensen observed with a nod in acknowledgement of the other man's muscles. The guy clearly worked out a lot. Jensen grabbed a paper bag and used a pair of tongs to drop a muffin into it while he waited for Danni to return with the caramel syrup. He picked up another muffin and waved it enticingly. "You sure I can't tempt you?"

Jared eyed the muffin for another moment before waving a hand. "Put it in," he sighed. "Might as well go all-out; it's Thursday. Worst day to work at a bookstore in San Antonio."

Jensen grinned and dropped the muffin in with the first, folding the bag over with deft fingers and a satisfying crackle of paper. Danneel returned then, and set about making the caramel latte without even having to be asked. Jensen handed over the muffins and gave the price. "A bookstore, huh?" he asked conversationally as he counted out the change. "There you go. Sounds like that could be a little boring."

"It can be," Jared admitted, absently taking the cup Danni handed him. He set it on the counter while he fished his wallet out. "But there's times when it—Danni. Why did you spell my name 'Jay-rod'?" He narrowed his eyes at the redhead suspiciously. "I know you know how to spell 'Jared'."

Jensen snorted, and Danni cackled. "Maybe I'm dyslexic," she answered, and swanned off to flirt with the stalker guy. Jensen rolled his eyes. 

"Well, have a good day, Jared," he said with a smirk. "Good luck being besties with that one."

Jared sighed long-sufferingly. "At this point, I'm never getting rid of her. She'd follow me no matter where I went and drag me back." He grabbed his bag and drink, and offered Jensen a smile. "See ya, Jensen. Good luck surviving the extra work she'll pile on you," he added, nodding at Danni, who was sitting so her breasts were practically in the guy's face. "She's decided he's a worth a hook."

Jensen didn't say anything to that, but he did hang around long enough to watch Jared's ass as he walked out of the shop. An inpatient customer clearing her throat dragged his attention away just before the door swung shut, and Jensen grinned apologetically at the annoyed-looking woman. "What? He's hot."

Something told him she didn't think this comment was appropriate.

***

"Took you long enough. Get your ass back here; got a shipment of _Fifty Shades of Grey_ in and I need your help hiding it," was Genevieve's greeting when Jared walked back into the Dragon's Lair bookstore.

Jared made a face. "Ugh. Did Mike seriously order those?" he griped, setting the bag and drink down. "Told him I wasn't gonna be directing those creepy-ass ladies to them anymore."

"Too bad; you know Mikey don't play by anyone's rules but Tom's," Gen shot back, and Jared rolled his eyes.

"Why do you need me, again? You're more than clever enough to hide them by yourself," Jared pointed out, following Gen into the back room.

"He found the last one I hid; gonna hide these in the ceiling and I need you to take out the panel," Gen explained, pointing to the ceiling panel she wanted moved. Jared raised an eyebrow, but didn't argue. If it meant he didn't have to deal with little old ladies eyeing him like they'd be imagining him as Christian and themselves as Ana, he was willing to help.

Once the boxes were stored in the ceiling—with some extra boards from the back alley to keep the panels from bowing—Jared went to grab his food, yelping indignantly when Gen swiped one of his muffins. "Get your own damn food, Shortie," he growled, snatching it back. Gen just took a bite out of it while it was in his hand. Jared made a disgusted noise and handed it to her, not like she wasn't going to end up with it anyway. "You're getting your own muffin next time," he informed her, ignoring her cheeky grin as he swiped a smudge of chocolate from the corner of her mouth and painting it on her nose instead. Gen snapped playfully at his finger and went to grab a napkin while Jared went to take care of the customers who'd just walked into the store.

***

That night, after Jared took his babies for a quick run after work, Jared logged onto tumblr. He only had two messages, one asking for advice on dealing with a negligent friend, and one from Priestly. Jared answered the advice one first, and then read over Priestly's with a grin.

**_so, it's been a while. that's mostly because i moved a few weeks ago and don't have internet yet. got a better apartment than i had in my hometown, and i'm working. not been here for long but it's already so much better. i can finally be myself. thank you, for everything. -P._ **

_Glad to hear it!_ Jared typed, rubbing Harley's belly with his foot as he did so. _Hope things will keep going well, and maybe you'll find a great guy to hook up with soon. :)_

***

Jared became something of a regular after their first encounter, although Jensen couldn't say for sure that he hadn't been a regular beforehand. He teased Danni about it one day after Jared left, bag of muffins in one hand and his coffee in the other: "You sure he's not pining after you, sweetheart?"

Danni just laughed and gave him a shove. "I'm positive, Jensen." When Jensen didn't look convinced, she continued, "Jared's gay."

Jensen started. "Oh."

"Does that change things?" Danneel asked suspiciously, her eyes narrowed at Jensen, but he just shook his head.

"No," he answered. Jared might be gay, but that didn't mean Jensen had any more of a chance with him than he would have had if he was straight. "It doesn't change a thing."

***

"Okay, spill," Gen demanded when Jared showed up with two muffins yet again. "Why do you keep going to that coffee shop?”

Jared felt the flush begin to creep up the back of his neck. "You like the muffins," he muttered, handing one of the muffins in question to Gen.

"Yeah, but you _never_ got me muffins before," Gen pointed out suspiciously. She stared at Jared for another moment before announcing, "Cmon. We're taking a break; it's a slow day."

"What?" Jared yelped. "Gen, it's the middle of the day—"

"And I'm curious. Mike and Tom can kiss my ass," Gen declared, grabbing Jared by the back of his collar and dragging him through the door.

***

Jensen looked up from where he was preparing a harassed-looking businessman's cappuccino when he heard the chime of the bell above the shop door, followed by the sound of laughter. He expected to see some happy couple, and he wasn't disappointed: Jared was there for the second time that day, looking very cosy with a petite brunette on his arm. Jensen mentally sighed. So much for Jared being gay.

He brought the cappuccino to the businessman, who paid with the exact amount, and forced a smile onto his lips when Jared and his lady friend approached the counter. "What can I get you?"

Gen stopped short when she spotted Jensen, letting out a low whistle. "Daamn, Jare, you sure know—mmph!" Jared had clamped a hand over Gen's mouth, grinning apologetically at Jensen.

"Sorry, she doesn't know when to keep her mouth— _ow!_ " Jared ripped his hand from Gen's mouth, glaring at her as he rubbed the sore spot from where she'd bitten him. "Bitch," he grumbled. "Anyway, Gen wanted to know why I kept coming in late to work and bringing her muffins."

"So the second muffin is for you," Jensen said to Gen with a smile, and suddenly he begrudged Jared that muffin. He'd persuaded Jared to buy it that first day as a treat for himself, not for a girl. But that was a stupid thing to think, so he pushed the thought away and turned a smirk on Jared. "You couldn't just tell her where you got them from? Well, we're out of those muffins now, so if you were after another one there's nothing I can do. How about a blueberry scone?"

Gen laughed. "He doesn't buy them for me; I steal them from him," she informed Jensen. "But a blueberry scone sounds awesome." She poked Jared in the side. "Left my wallet at the shop, buy it for me?"

Jared rolled his eyes. "Remind me again, why am I friends with you? All you do is abuse me and take my money _and_ my muffins."

"Because you _looove_ me," Gen singsonged, but Jared missed the calculating look in her eyes.

"Riiight," Jared muttered. "It's either that or I'm a massive masochist. Between you and Danni—and speak of the bitch and she shall appear!"

"I thought _I_ was your bitch," Gen whined, but she shut up when she caught sight of the woman coming out of the back.

Jensen didn't have a clue what was happening anymore, so he just raised his eyes heavenwards and went to fetch Jared's girlfriend her blueberry scone, leaving Danni to deal with the crazy.

"I hope you're not cheating on me, Jay," Danni was saying, leaning over the counter with a leer. She turned to the girl standing with her friend and extended a hand. "I'm Danneel, your competition. And you are?"

"Genevieve," Gen said, taking Danneel's hand in hers and shaking it, her fingers lingering on the redhead's for a second too long, just long enough for Jared to notice.

He smirked. "Sweethearts, you know I don't swing that way," he snickered, backing up a pace and moving down the counter towards Jensen. He nodded his head towards Gen and Danni. "Twenty bucks says they become best friends and terrify the shit out us poor souls. Forty says they fuck at least once, sixty says they become friends with benefits, and eighty says they fall in love."

Jensen laughed. "You're _not_ on. I don't think Danneel is into girls but you know them both better than me; unfair advantage." He bagged the scone and passed it to Jared, aiming for casual when he asked, "So Genevieve isn't your girlfriend?"

"Nope," Jared said blithely, taking the bag from Jensen. "I'm gay, always have been. Never looked at a girl in that way a day in my life. Of course," he added, gesturing to Danni, who was now arguing animatedly with Gen about the merits of frappucino versus cappucino, "I grew up with _that_." He tossed a grin at Jensen.

Jensen smirked, amused. "You must be gay," he agreed. "I am, and I'm not so sure I'd say no if she offered."

Jared laughed, a little too loud, to cover his surprise that Jensen was gay—yeah, that wasn't going to help Jared's rapidly-developing crush. "I've known her for forever—shared every traumatising experience, including her first period." Jared shuddered dramatically. "I had to go with her to buy pads and tampons and all that—it's just her and her dad, most of the time. Anyway, yeah. Her freaking out, blood running down her leg, ugh. _No_ possibility of attraction after that."

"Thank you for that image," Jensen deadpanned, staring at Jared. "Really, it's so beautiful. I'm so glad I'll never be able to wipe it from my mind."

Jared laughed. "My way of saving you heartache if you decide to give heterosexuality a try with Danni," he assured the other man. "Trust me, she'd chew you up and shit you out, buddy."

"Oh, I don't doubt it," Jensen chuckled. "Which is why it's super convenient that I like dick." He flushed, and cleared his throat. "Uhh. Do you want anything else with the scone?"

"How about a promise that you save me from a night with just Gen, Mike, and Tom?" Jared suggested, remembering that tonight was their weekly movie night. "It's movie night, and judging from the books that Mike's been ordering, it's gonna be a toss up between _The Avengers_ , and the _X-Men_ trilogy. It'll be a battle to the death if we don't have a fifth vote."

" _X-Men_ ," Jensen responded immediately. "But are you sure it'd be okay for me to tag along? I only know you, and I'm a little bit... out there."

"Pfft," Jared scoffed, waving a hand dismissively. "You've seen Gen, and Mike and Tom are... Well. They're the biggest fanboys _ever._ Trust me, you will probably be the sanest person there, next to me."

Jensen snorted. "Oh, you're sane?" he asked, making a show of being disappointed. "Damn." But then he grinned. "Count me in, I'll be there."

Jared scowled at Jensen for a second, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Hey, a little gratitude would be appreciated! That movie night comes with as much pizza as you can stuff yourself with," he said indignantly. "Coffee shops don't pay that much; believe me, I know." He gave Jensen the address before moving to the counter and interrupting the two women's argument. "Oi! You want me to pay for this, or you just gonna let me run off with it?"

Danneel dragged her attention away from Genevieve to give Jared a slow smile. "It's on the house," she answered. "So run along." 

Jared gave her a mock salute, and this time it was him dragging Gen out of the shop. "Meet me at the Dragon's Lair, six o'clock," he called back to Jensen.

***

It took Jensen the rest of his shift to convince Danneel to go with him, but eventually it was the promise that Genevieve would be there that won her over. Maybe Jared hadn't been so far wrong after all. They arrived at the Dragon's Lair together just before six, and found Jared arranging a new display at the front of the shop. Danneel went off to check out their magazine section while Jensen approached Jared. 

"Hey, how's it going?" he greeted with a smile that belied the butterflies in his stomach. "Hope you don't mind Danni tagging along. She wanted to see Gen."

Jared grinned at Jensen. "The more the merrier," he said happily. "At least now instead of distracting me with her plotting, Gen can go ahead and carry out her seduction." The brunette hadn't stopped talking once since leaving the coffee shop, and Jared had been about ready to use the packing tape to tape her mouth shut if Jensen and Danni hadn't shown up. "Let me finish up with this, and then we can go; Mike and Tom don't live too far away, so we can walk there. Gen’s gonna meet us there with the pizzas."

Jensen nodded, peering around Jared to the box of books he was arranging. "You want me to help?"

"If you could hand me books, that would help," Jared said, offering Jensen a grateful smile.

So that was what Jensen did until the end of Jared's shift, and then he found himself arm-in-arm with Danneel as they walked to Tom and Mike's place. How she'd latched onto him so fast, he would never know. "So, what are your friends like?" he asked Jared, who was walking beside Danneel and just a little bit ahead. "Are you sure they won't mind us coming?" And, of course, by 'us' he actually meant 'some scary-looking bastard who has more artificial holes in his head than natural ones'. No one would ever kick Danneel out of their house, but as Jensen knew all too well, few people had such qualms when it came to him. 

Jared hummed thoughtfully. "Mike and Tom are... unique. Don't expect to see Mike in anything but some form of cosplay, and Tom is the geekiest geek to ever geek. Guy's got knowledge on every superhero in existence, and all the villains, too. And yeah, they'll be fine with you tagging along; I called and told 'em I invited you, so they're expecting you. _You_ , on the other hand," he added, poking Danni playfully in the side, "they'll be delighted to see, considering we've been trying to rope you into coming for years."

Danneel laughed and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Should've invited someone who was into girls sooner, and no roping would have been necessary," she quipped. "You know I don't like all the geeky shit, Jared, and there was no way any of you guys would have appreciated this view."

Jensen looked up at that, interested. "Mike and Tom are gay?"

"They're together," Danneel confirmed knowingly. "Our boy here is their third wheel."

"Though Mike's tried to get me to be their 'third dick', as he calls it," Jared mused, laughing at Danni's interested look. "I'm serious! Then Tom walloped him with a copy of _Gone with the Wind_ for suggesting it."

" _Gone with the Wind_?" Jensen snorted. "God, they are gay."

Jared chuckled. "Very much so," he assured Jensen. "Just don't take anything Mike says too seriously, and you should be good."

Jensen nodded, wondering what the hell he'd gotten himself into. Danneel, on the other hand, seemed to have no reservations about the company they were to be keeping. "Genevieve is coming, right?" she pestered Jared. "Why have I only just met her? Have you been hiding her away while you try to become straight?"

Jared laughed at Danni's enthusiasm. "Yes, Danni, Gen's coming," he promised. "You've only just met her because she's only just moved here and I haven't had a chance to introduce her to everyone, and yes I was hiding her from you—you two are going to be the terrifying best friends who intimidate the shit out of the rest of us mere mortals."

"I'm gonna fuck her," Danneel announced matter-of-factly.

Jensen choked. "Have you ever been with a girl before?" he asked incredulously. 

Danneel rolled her eyes. "No. But she's hot! How hard can this gay thing be if you idiots can manage it? If I haven't fucked her by the end of the month, it'll only be because the world ended before then."

"Or Gen fucked _you_ first," Jared pointed out. "She's a determined little thing, and she definitely has her sights set on you." To Jensen, Jared muttered, "This is gonna be interesting."

Jensen could only agree.

It turned out to be Tom who answered the door when they finally arrived, looking not unlike Jared in the fact that he was all smiles and floppy hair—except that Jared pulled it off better, in Jensen's opinion. "Jay, Danni, good to see you," he greeted warmly as they stepped inside, leaving Jensen to bring up the rear. Tom's eyes widened almost comically as he took in Jensen's appearance, whose mohawk was electric blue this week, before his face split into a huge grin. " _Wow_ ," he drawled, drawing the word out so it sounded at least three syllables long. "You are one scary-looking mother fucker. Come on in. Mike is gonna love this."

Jared offered Jensen a reassuring smile. "Told you they'd be fine with you," he teased lightly.

Mike, who had been arguing with Gen over the merits of Black Widow versus Storm, looked up when the group came in. "Holy shit," he exclaimed when he caught sight of Jensen. "Who the fuck invited the rock star?"

"That would be me," Jared said, raising a hand. "And what the hell is with your getup, dude? You know Wolverine doesn't wear that horrible outfit anymore." He gestured to Mike's handmade yellow-and-blue outfit. Mike had a talent for cosplay costumes; this one looked almost exactly like the costume Wolverine wore in the original Marvel comics.

"It's a classic, and it's canon in the comics," Mike said, miffed. "And nice choice, dude. Love the mohawk." That said, he bounded to his feet and over to Tom, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. "Maybe he'll be more willing to join us," he chuckled. He caught sight of Danneel, and squealed delightedly.

"Bitch! Holy fuck, why're you here?" he exclaimed, grabbing Danneel up in a hug. "Did those two handsome fellas have to carry you fireman-style?"

Danneel laughed and hugged Mike back, a little less enthusiastically but who could blame her? "No, no, I came willingly," she promised, catching Genevieve's eye over Mike's shoulder and smiling at her. "I came for Gen."

Jensen, meanwhile, was sidling closer to Jared. "You didn't say having sex with them was part of this deal," he teased under his breath. "Really though, are they on something?"

Genevieve beamed at Danneel over Mike's shoulder, poking and shoving the man off of the redhead. "You heard her," she smirked at Mike's offended protest. "She came for _me_."

"Not as far as I know," Jared chuckled. "But then again, with the way they like to spend their free time, who knows?"

The rest of the night continued in much the same fashion, with the girls flirting while the guys ragged on each other, with occasional intervals while Mike and Tom made out and attempted to get Jensen and/or Jared to join them. In the end, despite providing what was meant to be the deciding vote, Jensen couldn't remember what movie they'd watched; he hadn't spent much time with his eyes on the screen. When it was finally time to go home, he was exhausted. Genevieve offered to drive Danneel home, because they'd both been too busy making moon eyes at each other to drink, and Jared agreed to share a cab with Jensen. They barely managed to escape without being mauled by Mike, and everyone was laughing as the two groups went their separate ways.

"Dude, your friends are awesome," Jensen informed Jared, the girls' giggles still ringing out behind them. "Thank you for inviting me tonight, I had a great time."

Jared laughed. "No problem. You've officially got a standing invitation every week now," he told Jensen with a grin. "Nice to have someone there to share Mike's attention. Sorry about his overenthusiasm, by the way. I think he was born without a filter."

Jensen snorted. "It's cool, man. At least I know someone finds me attractive, although I'm pretty sure Mike would sleep with a yeti if it shook its ass at him," he joked—but he was kind of serious. Mike's outrageous and over-the-top propositions was the most attention he'd gotten from a man since he was a teenager.

"More than one someone," Jared muttered under his breath, just low enough that Jensen couldn't hear it. Louder, he replied, "Yeah, he probably would. And he'd somehow manage to drag Tom into it. No one was surprised when they got together; they'd been inseparable all through school."

"Yeah?" Jensen asked, smiling. "They seemed cute. And, like, for all Mike's flirting, he'd never actually cheat. I got that from the way he looks at Tom. Like he's... everything." So maybe Jensen was a little jealous. Sue him. ]

Jared nodded. "Yeah. They're the lucky ones. If I believed in such a thing as soulmates, I'd think they were."

Jensen didn't have a chance to respond; just as Jared finished speaking, a cab rounded the corner and they had to hail it fast. It was only as they tumbled into the back seat together that Jensen realised he was kind of drunk, and he slumped against the door of the car while he gave the driver directions to his apartment. 

Jared grinned. "You don't live too far from me," he said happily. "I can walk to my place from yours." Realizing that the cab wasn't spinning, just moving forward, he added, "Hopefully it'll sober me up."

"Something needs to," Jensen teased. "Are you sure you're okay to walk, though? You're not gonna pass out in a gutter or anything, are you?"

Jared shook his head. "I'm good to walk," he said, then frowned; something about that sounded odd, but that was probably just the alcohol talking. "I'm good," he repeated. His eyes fastened on Jensen's lips, and he just barely— _barely_ —managed to keep himself from saying the next thought to his mind.

Jensen's eyes widened. "Are you sure about that?" he asked softly, torn between amused and concerned.

Jared ripped his gaze from Jensen's lips, flushing slightly. "Yeah, I'm sure," he muttered, resisting the urge to try to slap himself sober; he didn't want to fuck things up with Jensen, which meant _not_ kissing him while they were drunk. Nevermind the fact that Jared was pretty sure that would be the only time he'd ever be able to work up the courage.

Jared looked back up, meeting Jensen's gaze with a grin. "Besides, if I can't make it back to my place, wouldn't be the first time I crashed at Chad's after a movie night."

Jensen smiled, but it didn't feel right on his face. "Who's Chad?" he asked curiously. "Boyfriend?"

Jared couldn't help it; he laughed, loud and long. "Wouldn't _that_ be a surprise to them both," he snickered. Then, he elaborated: "Chad's straight. Got a girl, Sophie. He likes to pretend he's bi, but everyone knows he's straight. Been my best friend since he got me drunk enough to make me jump into a pool fully clothed during our freshman year. He owed me a new phone, and we just somehow became friends."

"Sounds like a great friend," Jensen deadpanned, but there was laughter in his eyes. The cab slowing to a stop made him look away, sobering once more as he pulled his wallet out of his pocket. "I think this is me. You sure you wanna walk? I don't mind paying the extra fare."

"Nah, I'm good." Jared waited while Jensen paid the driver, and then he pulled out his own wallet. "Here, 'm not drunk enough to forget this." He handed Jensen half of the fare.

Jensen made a soft, surprised sound, but he took the money with a mumbled, "Thanks." He got out of the cab and waited for Jared to do the same before starting toward the path that led to his apartment building. "See you around, Jay."

"See ya, Jen," Jared called, waving before he started down the block, weaving slightly. He managed to make it back to his apartment without incident or having to call Chad for help. As soon as he got into his apartment, Harley and Sadie were on him, and Jared laughed, carefully getting to the floor to sit and cuddle with them for a moment. Getting to his feet led to a slight throbbing in his temple, reminding Jared to down some aspirin before he went to sleep.

"C'mon guys," he called softly, opening the door to his room. "Y'all can sleep up here tonight."

***

Jensen saw Jared again at the coffee shop the next day, and didn't even wait to be asked before bagging up a couple of muffins. He passed them over the counter before turning to make Jared's usual brew. "So did Genevieve come into work this morning?" he asked. "I haven't even heard from Danneel, so I'm guessing they had a good night. Better than ours, for sure."

Jared snickered, fishing out his phone and showing Jensen the keysmashed gibberish that made up the only text he'd gotten from Genevieve the night before. "Either she was too excited to text properly because she's got a date with Danni, or she tried to text me while they were having sex," he predicted. "She wouldn't dare be late to work, so I'll find out then." He took the bag of muffins gratefully, fishing one out and biting into it, groaning appreciatively.

"I'm gonna kidnap your baker," he mumbled around a mouthful of chocolate. "Fucking genius, man, no way you're paying them enough."

Jensen laughed. "I tell Jeff that all the time," he confided. "But he never listens." He turned back to the counter to put a lid on the coffee and then rang up Jared's purchases on the register. "You know the drill, man."

Jared handed over his money, waiting while Jensen counted out his change. "So," he said, aiming for casual. "Am I right in thinking you haven't had a lot of time to check out the local night life?"

Jensen shrugged. "I haven't given it much thought, really. Here." He spilled the change into Jared's hand and closed the register. "I wasn't a huge partier back home, believe it or not, so I wouldn't even know where to start around here. Why?"

Jared hummed thoughtfully. "I can believe it," he decided. "And I was wondering if you wanted to come to Jake's with me; it's the best bar in town." He offered Jensen a grin. "Can introduce you to a couple of friends. You might like some of them; Jake's a good guy, he'll probably like you."

Jensen took a moment to think it over before nodding. "Yeah, okay," he said with a smile. "Sounds like a great idea. It's about time I got myself out of the apartment. My roommate is out almost every night and he loves the fact that he has a better social life than me."

Jared laughed. "Your roommate, huh?" He grinned at Jensen, inexplicably—okay, he knew _why_ he was so happy that Jensen had a friend in the city when he moved, but denial was a wonderful thing—pleased to hear Jensen wasn't rattling around in some apartment by himself. "Friend from your old city?”

"Yep," Jensen answered. "He moved out here with me. We've been attached at the hip since we were kids; I don't think he would have survived long without me. Then again," he added, almost as an afterthought. "I think it goes both ways."

Jared nodded sympathetically. "It's a date, then; I'll pick you up at your place around seven?"

Someone came into the shop just then, and Jensen reached over the counter to gently push Jared to the side. The woman glanced up at him as she approached, and blushed.

"Umm, can I get a mocha, please?" she asked, without taking her eyes off Jared.

"Coming right up." Jensen cleared his throat. "Seven's fine, Jared. I'll see you tonight."

The woman looked at Jensen then, and incredulity momentarily coloured her features before they clouded over with disappointment. Jensen thought it was hilarious.

***

Gen annoyed Jared to no end the whole day; first talking incessentally about how her and Danni exchanged numbers before going their separate ways, then how Gen wasn't even disappointed she didn't sleep with Danni right off the bat, cause they spent the whole night talking, and then pestering Jared about how things with him and Jensen went, and _then_ , after he made the mistake of admitting they had plans for the night, she started jabbering on about—Honestly, Jared lost track somewhere around the time Gen wondered aloud if Jensen was pierced anywhere hidden, and if he'd let Jared see.

"Jesus, Gen, we're just going to a bar!" he finally blurted, throwing his hands(and, incidentally, a copy of _Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian_ ) in the air.

Gen made a disappointed noise. "For a first date? Jeez, Jare, I know you're inexperienced, but _damn_."

Jared flushed. "It's not a date," he muttered. "Was gonna go tonight; figured Jensen might like to go as well, get to know some more people."

Genevieve hummed under her breath as she shelved some more copies of Dean Koontz's _Watchers_. "Or maybe you're hoping he'll want to get to know one person in particular."

Jared just smacked her with _Lord of the Flies._

***

Danneel turned up halfway through her shift, looking exhausted, and immediately announced that she was never drinking again. This wasn't new, but Jensen was surprised to discover that she and Genevieve hadn't had sex the night before. It was only fair that Jensen spent the rest of their shift banging things around a lot more than necessary and singing to anyone who would listen about how _in luurrrrrve_ Danni was. He got whipped around the back of the head with a towel a few times—once by Jeff, the guy who owned the shop—but it was worth it. Until he let slip that he was going out with Jared that evening. 

"You're doing what?!" Danneel squawked, immediately picking up the tune Jensen had been murdering all day. "Jenny's in luurrvve!"

"Fuck you," Jensen spat, and then apologised to the old lady he was currently serving herbal tea. "It's not a date. We're just hanging out."

Danneel rolled her eyes. "Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart."

Jensen did keep telling himself that, but that didn't mean he completely believed it. Of course, he knew all too well that Jared was just too pretty to be interested in someone like him, but still, he hoped. He _liked_ Jared, as much as he didn't want to, and no matter how often he denied it he was kind of a sappy romantic at heart. He really wanted Jared to see past all the defences he put up and _get him_. But that was ridiculous. Jensen had too many defences and not enough to offer to make the effort required on Jared's part worth it.

Which was exactly what Jensen realised when he walked into the bar later that evening. There had been a minor disaster at the shop, involving a clumsy customer and a whole load of mugs that had ended up in pieces on the floor, and by that point Jensen was the only staff member left in the shop. He'd called Jared, explaining the situation and promising that he could still make their night out, but that he would just meet them at the bar a little later than planned. Jared, being the gentleman he was, offered to delay his own journey so that he could still pick Jensen up, but Jensen refused until Jared relented and gave him directions to the bar. So Jensen cleaned up the mess, went home to shower and change into worn jeans and a purple t-shirt that said 'kiss me quick' and only barely clashed with his blue hair, and arrived at the bar a whole hour after he was supposed to.

Given that he was already late, he chose to calm his nerves with a cigarette outside before heading in. The bar was dark and smelled of beer and sweat, but it wasn't too crowded and the music wasn't too loud, and Jensen felt at ease despite the fact that he was obviously out of place here. He looked up when he heard Jared's booming laugh and spotted him just as he stood up from a table of guys and started to move to the bar, followed by one of his friends. Only, this didn't look like a friend. The guy was plastered all over Jared, a hand sneaking into Jared's back pocket when he leaned toward the barman to give his order—and it was at this point that it occurred to Jensen how stupid he'd been. Jared's 'friend' was hot, in that conventional way that Jensen had always found irritating but that the rest of the world had wet dreams over. Of course Jared was going to go for a guy like that, and never a guy like Jensen. It was an upsetting conclusion to come to, but faced with this evidence it was undeniably accurate, and Jensen swallowed the hurt like he'd done the few other times he'd allowed himself to hope, and approached the bar.

"Hey Jared, sorry I'm so late," he said with an easy smile, coming up on the side of Jared that wasn't being absorbed into Mr. Hotty McHot's body. "You've never seen a mess like it. And it was sharp, too." He waggled his fingers, which were adorned with blue band aids that somehow _did_ clash with his hair. "Who's your friend?"

Jared would never admit how anxious he'd been, waiting on Jensen—hell, even Jake had picked up on it. He grinned in relief when Jensen walked up to them, and smacked Jake's hand out of his back pocket. "Jen, this is Jake Abel—Jake, this is Jensen Ackles."

Jake raked his eyes over Jensen, raising one eyebrow skeptically. _This_ was the dude that Jared had been waiting on all night? Hell, he looked like he'd just stepped out of some death metal concert. "Nice to meet you," he said politely, winding his arm around Jared's waist, sending off clear signals of _I was here first._

Jared—who was slightly tipsy; he tended to drink and/or eat whatever was on hand when he was anxious—didn't notice Jake's possessiveness, offering Jensen another grin. "Wanna beer?"

For all that Jared might have missed it, Jensen got Jake's message loud and clear. He gave Jared a smile that wasn't as genuine as it might have been. "Sure, but I'm buying," he asserted smoothly. "The least I can do after being so late. What're those guys having?" He gestured back to the table that he'd seen Jared vacate. 

Jared glanced over in that direction, frowning in concentration. "Shots," he remembered. "And the DD wanted a diet coke."

"Great," Jensen grinned, fishing out his wallet and handing Jared a few bills. "Get 'em in and I'll join you in a minute. Just gonna head to the men's." 

Jared nodded, silently cursing the alcohol that was helpfully— _not_ —supplying suggestions of just why Jensen needed to go to the restroom. Apparently Jared was a horny drunk around certain people—Whose initials were "J. A." He turned back to the bartender, elbowing Jake in the ribs, and ordered the drinks, drumming his fingers on the bartop while he waited for them to be brought.

Jensen returned just in time to watch Jake slide into the seat next to Jared, leaving the only chair remaining one in between Jake and some guy Jensen had yet to be introduced to. But what could Jensen do? Jake was clearly quite cosy with Jared, and Jensen had no business getting in between that. He walked over to the table and took the seat, smiling at everyone as he reached for the beer that had been assigned to him. "Hey everyone, I'm Jensen."

Everyone waved, and Jared introduced them: "You met Jake, the blonde next to him who looks like a raging douche is Chad—"

"Hey!"

"The pretty girl next to him is Sophia; I think I told you about them last night. And this here is Jim, our DD for the night."

"Hey there, Jensen," Jim drawled warmly. He was older than everyone else present, but Jensen thought he looked like he epitomised that saying, 'there's life in the old dog yet'. Jensen reached out to shake his hand like he had done with the others, and Jim continued. "Jared's told us a lot about you, but I gotta say, you're nothing like what we expected."

Jensen laughed, flustered and uncomfortable. "Oh really?"

Jim just smiled serenely. "He told us your hair was red last week."

Jared grinned and nodded, still riding the high from the drinks he'd had already. "Fire engine red," he said knowingly, reaching around Jake to pat Jensen's shoulder, turning it into a cuff on Jake's ear when the guy tries to slip his arm around Jared's waist.

"I was just making sure you didn't fall!" Jake whined pitiously, clutching his ear.

Chad snickered. "Remember that time Jared took Jim up on the offer to see who could drink who under the table?"

"We swore never to speak of that again!" Jared shrieked, lunging for Chad; Jake held him back, though, and a good thing, too, or else Jared would've upset the whole table.

Jensen could only laugh, grinning around Jake at Jared. "Let me guess: Jim won?" he supposed. "Should've told me you were such a lightweight, Jay."

"Jared drank _himself_ under the table," Chad announced gleefully, enjoying having a new person to tell the story to. "Curled up like a baby and went to sleep—thumb sucking and all."

"I did _not_ suck my thumb!" Jared protested loudly, trying to simultaneously glare at Chad and pout. Jake just patted his shoulder soothingly.

Jensen shared a grin with Jim, who was laughing heartily with the others at the memory. The only guy at the table who wasn't laughing was Jake, and Jensen suspected that was only because he thought Jared needed someone on his side. Slimeball.

"You didn't suck your thumb," Jim conceded, a devious glint in his eye. "But you did drool all over yourself."

Jared snorted. "I won't deny that," he admitted. "Especially considering I drool all over myself when I sleep in my own bed."

Jensen chuckled, staring at Jared with something akin to incredulity. "Good to know," he teased. "How much have you had to drink, man?"

Jared counted off on his fingers, frowning slightly. "Two beers, three shots, and a sip of whatever the fuck Sophia has," he decided.

"Not just a sip," Jake snorted. "You downed half the drink, man."

"That explains the oversharing," Jensen sniggered. "I think maybe you should slow down before you say something you regret tomorrow."

Jared nodded. "Very wise young man, you are," he said in a very poor imitation of Yoda.

Jensen choked on his beer. "Jesus Christ."

The rest of the evening progressed in much the same way. Jared didn't slow down, but rather than loosening his tongue even further the alcohol just proved to make him increasingly clumsy and incoherent. Jake seemed to love it, taking the opportunity to get his hands all over Jared, ands though they sensed his discomfort, Chad, Sophia and Jim kept sending Jensen sympathetic looks. He didn't want them. Who was he to complain if Jared's boyfriend wanted to engage in some PDA? 

When Jake had walked Jared out to Jim’s car after Jared started walking that fine line between “hilarious-drunk” and “puking-drunk,” Chad leaned forward, resting on his elbows. "They're not together, y'know. They just like to fuck each other when one of them hits a dry spell."

"Chad!" Sophia smacked Chad across the back of the head hard enough that the blonde's elbow slipped and he bashed his chin into the table. She proceeded to ignore his indignant spluttering and cursing to hiss something indeterminate at him that made him mumble a "sorry" in Jensen's direction.

Jensen shook his head, his gaze fixed on the table. "None of my business, man," he mumbled. "Why do I care who Jared fucks?"

Sophia and Chad both cast him looks that said, "Really?" Jake came back before they could put the look into words, though.

"Jared's passed out in the backseat," he announced, sitting down again. "So I guess we should get him home."

Jim nodded and stood up from the table. "Just let me hit the head and I'll be with ya," he grunted, ambling off toward the restrooms.

In his absence, Jensen slid from his seat also. "I'm gonna go," he announced with a smile for everyone but Jake. "It was great to meet all of you; I hope we can do this again sometime. Tell Jared I'll see him soon?"

Chad and Sophia nodded, but Jake just shrugged noncommittally, grunting when Sophia kicked him in the shin.

"Bye, Jenny-boy!" Chad called cheerfully.

Jensen just rolled his eyes and gave Chad the finger before turning and leaving the bar. It had been a good night, but also a long one, and he was more than ready to go home.

***

The next morning, Jared groaned as he rolled (literally) out of bed. "Dammit," he moaned, wincing at the taste in his mouth. He flicked on the laptop as he passed on his way to the kitchen for coffee and breakfast. When he had both, and had let his babies out, he settled down in front of the laptop and clicked on the link to tumblr.

**_sooo i went out tonight with a guy i met at work. thought maybe it was a date but when i got there he was all over some other guy. sat through it because i'm some kind of masochist apparently. should've seen it coming, right? -P._ **

Jared frowned at his screen, sipping his coffee while he debated how to reply. Putting down his mug, Jared hauled the computer into his lap and started to type.

_No, you shouldn't have seen it coming; if the guy wasn't decent enough to be clear about what his intentions for the night were, then that's his problem, not yours. It wasn't unreasonable for you to think it might've been a date if he hadn't mentioned any friends or anybody else. That's not your fault, P. That's his._

_On the other hand, he could be an oblivious idiot—most guys, myself included, are when it comes to this sort of thing. It might not have crossed his mind that you would think it was a date, so if he saw a... close acquaintance, for lack of better term, he wouldn't have seen anything wrong with hanging out(or onto) him. I assume you told him you're gay, and he responded in kind?_

Jensen, being the hungover loser he was, had been sat on tumblr for the past hour, alternating between scrolling through his dash and obsessively refreshing k-b's blog, hoping for an answer. At last, he got one, and he'd honestly never hit the 'ask' button so fast in his life.

**_yeah, he's gay; he knows i am. but i guess if he's not attracted to me then it might not even occur to him that i'm attracted to him. i'm not exactly the kind of guy people think have feelings, if that makes sense. whatever. i should definitely be used to this by now. -P._ **

Jared frowned at the new message in his inbox.

_Used to it? You never get used to something like that. I don't care if you've got three eyes, six nostrils, and twenty mouths, you're a human being(I assume. Oh God, you're not a Martian, are you?!), and you've got feelings. No one has any right to trample them._

_You've got a point about the fact that he may not think you're attracted to him—if your appearance is as radical as I'm assuming, then he may be thinking along the lines of that old adage "like sticks to like." Or he could just be an oblivious idiot. Either way, if it happens again, you need to tell him that you feel like you're being led on._

Jensen spent the rest of the weekend feeling decidedly sorry for himself. He didn't message k-b back because he just didn't have the energy for it; nothing new had happened with Jared because they hadn't so much as texted each other and there was no point in whining about the same thing over and over again. When he got into work on Monday, Danneel seemed to sense that it wasn't a good idea ask him how his night out with the boys had gone, and both she and Jeff spent the morning skirting around him like he was a bomb waiting to go off. He certainly felt like one when Jared walked through the door a few hours into his shift.

Danneel had mysteriously disappeared into the back room, where Jeff was balancing the books; helpless to do anything else, Jensen stepped up to the counter. "Good morning," he said tightly, not quite looking Jared in the eye. "The usual?"

Jared felt like shit. There was a reason he didn't do shots, or experiment with unfamiliar, purple drinks that tasted like a weird mix of lemon and pumpkin and sassafras.

Jared was just looking forward to a good, strong cup of coffee, but he blinked when Jensen's unfriendly attitude registered. "Uh, no," he said slowly. "Just a cup of black coffee, strongest you can get it, please."

"Sure," Jensen agreed easily, moving to prepare Jared's coffee. While he was waiting, he stole a glance at Jared from over his shoulder. The guy looked like shit, and Jensen kind of felt sorry for him. "Still feeling the effects of the weekend?" he asked conversationally. "That must be one hell of a hangover. Unless you went out with Jake again."

Jared made a face. "He had some 'cure' that tasted like shit and made me feel worse. Last fucking time I trust him while hungover."

Jensen smiled blandly. "Ah well, I'm sure he'll make up for it once you're feeling better," he responded, turning back to the counter to hand Jared his coffee and name the price. "No muffins today?"

Jared groaned. "No, thanks. I am never trusting him anywhere _near_ me again. Bastard." He debated the muffin, but with the way his stomach had been acting... "I wish, but better not risk it," he decided.

Jensen just nodded and gave Jared his change. He didn't quite know what to make of Jared's vow to keep Jake at a distance from now on, but he was taking k-b's advice: he wasn't going to let himself get dicked around. "Have a good day."

"Thanks, you too," Jared answered, offering Jensen an uncertain smile. Something about the other man seemed... off, and Jared wasn't sure if it had anything to do with him.

Jensen turned away without watching Jared leave, busying himself with rearranging the stacks of paper cups beside the counter. He knew he was being unreasonable, even childish, but he couldn't help the aching disappointment that still resided in his chest. It might not be Jared's fault, per se, but that didn't mean he wanted Jared to see it.

***

The next evening, Jared hung around the shop, waiting for them to close. He'd texted Danni, who'd told him Jensen was working closing that night. Finally, Jared spotted Jensen coming out of the door marked "Employees Only." He took a step forward, calling out, "Jen!"

Jensen turned, and was surprised to see Jared walking towards him. "Uh, hey," he said awkwardly, pulling his coat closer around him like a shield. "What are you doing here? If you wanted a coffee then I've just locked up, I'm sorry."

Jared looked at Jensen, hurt stinging his chest. "Are you mad at me?" he asked quietly, ignoring everything Jensen had said. "It's the only thing that makes sense for how you've been..." Jared waved one hand in the air, searching for the right words. "Ignoring me. Acting weird. Take your pick. I just... I just can't figure out _why._ "

Jensen sighed. He didn't know what to say. He knew that k-b had advised him to tell Jared he felt like he'd been led on, but he couldn't. In all honesty it had been his own stupid fault that he'd gotten hurt the other night. It wasn't fair of him to take it out on Jared. "I'm not mad at you," he said at last. "I'm just being a dumbass, that's all. I'm sorry."

Jared frowned, then smiled hesitantly. "If you're being a dumbass, then come be a dumbass with me, okay? I missed you." He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck subconsciously. "You're a really good friend, and I really like y—having you around."

Jensen let himself relax a little, still on his guard but not openly defensive. "Yeah, okay," he agreed easily. "I like having you around, too. Actually—You wanna come inside?" He gestured to the coffee shop behind him. "We've still got some muffins left over and they won't be at their best, but they're still pretty good."

Jared nodded, his smile widening. "Yeah, muffins sound good," he agreed. he found himself feeling relieved that Jensen truly seemed okay, that Jared hadn't done something while they were out.

Jensen unlocked the door and led Jared into the shop, flipping lights on as he went. "Take a seat," he suggested, gesturing to the tables and the chairs stacked on top of them. "Are we still of the chocolate persuasion, or would you prefer bran? They're all we've got left." No way was Jensen going to confess that he'd saved the one remaining chocolate muffin for Jared; they were usually the first ones to go, but Jensen had paid for this one himself and kept it on hand just in case Jared came in. He hadn't, but he was here now; that was all that mattered.

Jared laughed as he pulled two chairs down for him and Jensen. "Chocolate, definitely. You haven't seen me at work—there's this huge-ass bowl full of all sorts of candy. Gen labeled it 'Jay's Cavity Inducers,' complete with a 'Do Not Touch' sign."

"So noted," Jensen said with a smile, bringing over the chocolate muffin for Jared and sitting down. "Everything's been switched off for about an hour, so I can't make you a drink, I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Jared hastened to reassure the other man. "I really shouldn't have caffeine this late anyway." He broke the muffin in half, offering the other half to Jensen. "So, you gonna come to movie night again?"

"Umm, I think so," Jensen answered hesitantly. "Same crowd, or..?" He wasn't sure he could handle another night in the same room as Jake, if Jared was inviting extra guests.

Jared shook his head. "Just like last week," he explained. "Me, you, Danni, Gen, Mike, and Tom. Jake and them do other stuff that night."

Jensen nodded. "Sure, that sounds great," he said with a smile. "I'll be there."

***

Movie night went even better than the previous week—Mike still couldn't resist poking fun at Jensen's style, but Jared assured Mike was just an insensitive clod and not to take anything he said too seriously—and the night after that, Jared had a date.

It was a guy who'd come into The Dragon's Hoard, and he'd purchased a copy of _Odd Thomas_. He and Jared had started discussing their favorite Dean Koontz books, and before he left, Jared had his name, number, and a dinner date for that night.

It went well, Jared thought. The guy, Kris, was nice, and the conversation was good, but at the end of the night, they decided that there just wasn't that drive to get together again for anything more than conversation, and they parted ways amicably. And if Jared was more than a little disappointed, well, he didn't say anything to Kris.

"Why is it all the guys I date always decide I'm a better conversationalist than boyfriend?" Jared asked Jensen mournfully as he waited for his drink and muffin.

Jensen shrugged. He'd been dealing with a customer when Jared came in, so he was now leaning against the counter to talk to him while Danneel saw to his order. Now he was wishing he'd excused himself for a bathroom break. "I dunno, man," he answered awkwardly. "Maybe you just need to find someone who thinks intelligence is sexy. You don't wanna date someone without the ability to hold a conversation anyway."

Jared shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." He offered Jensen a small smile. "Sorry for dumping that on you, I doubt you wanna hear my relationship issues." The smile morphed into a smirk. "But I wanna hear about yours—find any good guys around here?"

Jensen blushed and dropped his gaze to the counter. "No," he muttered. "Not yet."

Jared grinned. "Now why don't I believe you?" he teased, but he dropped the issue. "Danni, you're a lifesaver!" he announced as the redhead approached with his drink and muffin. "By the way, how's the plan to fuck Gen going?"

"Swimmingly, thank you," Danneel answered brightly just as Jensen excused himself for that bathroom break, still not quite able to look Jared in the eye. "But that doesn't mean that I'd say no to some inside information. Does she talk about me? What does she say?"

Jared hummed thoughtfully, pretending to think it over, until Danni reached over and smacked him in the chest. "Yes, she does talk about you," he laughed. "She says you're gorgeous, which she knew, but you're also smart and funny, which _I_ knew, but she didn't think I was serious. She knows better now, though."

Danneel flushed, pleased, and bit her lip. "That's good," she giggled. "That's really good. Shit, Jare, I really like her."

Jared grinned widely. "Just keep being your wonderful, terrifying, gorgeous, funny self," he reassured her, reaching across the counter to ruffle her hair playfully, snatching his hand back before she could do something horrible to it. "For some reason, she seems to like that."

"I'll keep that in mind," Danneel promised, smirking. "Now get out of here before you're late for work." 

Jared offered Danni a mock salute, and then grinned at Jensen. "See ya around!" he called over his shoulder, barely managing to avoid running said shoulder into the door as someone else came in as he was attempting to leave.

***

Over the next several weeks, Jared and Jensen became best friends. It sounded cliche, but it was true. They talked about a lot of different things, as well as spent a lot of time together, both at Jared's house and at Jensen's apartment.

They were at Jared's house when Jared finally got the courage to ask something that he'd been wondering about for a long time. "So, why did you decide to get the tattoos?" he asked, aiming for casual as he handed Jensen a beer.

Jensen shrugged, taking the beer from Jared and bringing it to his lips. Once he'd downed a few mouthfuls he rested the bottle between his legs and sat back into the couch. "To piss off my dad, mostly," he answered. "Not many of them have specific meanings besides they're what I thought would look good. This one, though, is my favourie." He pulled down the neck of his t-shirt, which featured the simple but classic phrase 'I'm with stupid', to indicate a simple arrow inked onto the back of his shoulder.

Jared held the fabric aside so that he could study the arrow. "What does it mean?" he asked quietly. He had a pretty good idea, but he wanted to hear it from Jensen.

Jensen sent a soft smile to Jared over his shoulder. "Before it can be shot forwards and hit its target, an arrow has to be pulled back," he explained. "I got it not long before I moved here. It... seemed appropriate."

Jared's smile matched Jensen's. "It's appropriate," he agreed, hesitantly tracing the ink. Then he realized what he was doing and flushed, snatching his hand back. "Cmon, I'll start up the PlayStation, and then we'll see who's better at kicking ass on Call of Duty," he said, dropping Jensen's shirt and patting him on the shoulder before flailing his way off of the couch.

Jensen flushed, embarrassed, as Jared all but fell on his ass trying to get away from him. He was sure that Jared had detected his shudder in response to Jared's fingers on his skin, and that was the source of the sudden need for space. "It's me, by the way," he laughed hesitantly as he watched Jared crawl across the floor to get to the PlayStation. "But I have no problem proving it to you." Something told him it was going to be a long night.

Jared scoffed, looking under the small cabinet for the case. "Damn thing's got a mind of its own," he muttered, finally locating it and pulling back with a triumphant noise. "All right, big boy, show me what you got," he challenged as he came back to the couch.

***

Jensen did kick his ass, but Jared couldn't bring himself to care when it meant he got to hear Jensen's laugh. "Christ, how the hell did you get so good?" he asked, bumping Jensen's shoulder with his.

"Chris," Jensen chuckled. "We used to play all the time back home. It was his way of taking my mind off of things."

Jared nodded in understanding. "Chris sounds like a good friend. When am I going to meet him?" he asked teasingly.

Jensen shrugged. "I didn't realise you wanted to," he said. "But whenever you like, I guess. I could make sure he's home next time you come over."

Jared grinned. "Awesome," he said happily.

***

"Next time" turned out to be about a week later. Jared knew Jensen's apartment number, but even if he hadn't, he would have known which one it was from the noise. He was pretty sure his knock wouldn't be heard, so Jared went ahead and walked in. "Jensen!" he called, the noise drawing him into the living room.

"Hey Jared," Jensen called over the ruckus, grinning wide. "Guys, will you shut the fuck up?" The three other men in the room abruptly ceased what had apparently been a heated argument and turned to look at Jared. Jensen affected a sheepish expression. "Sorry for the ambush; Chris figured that if you were going to meet him, you might as well meet the whole gang." 

Chris interrupted him with a pointed cough. "Band, not gang," he corrected. "Hey there, Jolly Green. I'm Chris."

Jensen rolled his eyes. "And this is Steve and Misha."\

Jared rolled his eyes at the nickname, but shook Chris's hand nonetheless. "Jared," he said, eyeing Chris for a moment before turning his attention to Steve and Misha. "Hey," he grinned with a little wave. "Nice to meet y'all. What was that godawful racket when I walked in?"

"Oh, Chris was being a little bitch," Misha said blithely.

Chris glared. "I was not!"

"Yes you were," Jensen teased. "Jared, sit down, would you?"

"Yeah, Jared, sit down—right here next to me," Chris enthused, kicking Steve off the couch to make room for Jared. "If anyone can persuade Jensen to join our band, it's you."

Jared sat down next to Chris, looking at Jensen in surprise. "What do you want him to join for? Can he sing?"

"A little," Jensen admitted. "But mostly I play guitar."

"And he's damned good at both!" Chris insisted loudly. "He's just a fuckin' girl about it."

Misha scowled and kicked Chris. "He is not being a girl. I only met him five minutes ago but I already know that his music is very private. If he doesn't want to play, we can't make him."

Jensen looked surprised, but grateful. "Thank you, Misha. That's exactly right," he said softly.

Jared felt something twist in his gut at the way Jensen and Misha were looking at each other, but he shoved it away, focusing instead on answering. "I haven't heard Jen sing or play, so yeah, I've gotta agree with Misha. If Jensen doesn't want other people to hear his music, then we can't make him perform."

Jensen turned his grateful look onto Jared, his heart skipping in his chest at the thought that Jared had just defended him, but Jared didn't notice. He was a little preoccupied, given that Chris had just shoved him onto the floor beside Steve. "Traitor," he growled at Jared. "Fine. Jennybean doesn't have to play with us, but I'm still allowed to think that it's a cryin' shame."

"'Jennybean'?" Jared echoed, chuckling as he shuffled across the floor to lean against Jensen's chair. "Please tell me there's a story behind that," he laughed, tilting his head back to grin up at Jensen.

"Not one that you're going to hear anytime soon," Jensen retorted, shooting Chris a warning look. 

Chris grinned. "If you get him drunk enough to pass out, I'll tell you," he promised. 

"Sounds good to me!" Misha jumped up and went into the kitchen to fetch everyone a beer, choosing to sit on the arm of Jensen's chair when he returned. "Here's to getting Jensen too hammered to stop Chris telling us embarrassing stories about him!"

Jared laughed, elbowing Jensen in the knee playfully. "C'mon, dude, you've already heard one embarrassing story about me," he chuckled, taking a beer from Misha.

"Really?" Jensen asked, feigning innocence. "I don't think I remember that."

Jared pointed his beer bottle at Jensen emphatically. "I was drunk that night, but I remember Chad telling you about it—don't think you can get me to tell it."

Jensen smirked. "I really don't remember," he lied. "So if you want to hear a story about me, you're going to have to tell us a story about you."

Jared narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Jensen. "If I find out you're lying," he threatened, "then I will give Danni all the info she will ever want to make your life a living hell."

Jensen wasn't worried. There was a lot of information that could truly be used to make his life a living hell, but Jared knew none of it; he could handle a little mocking. "Tell us," he challenged.

Jared sighed in resignation. "Fine, jerk." He took a swig of his beer before starting. "A while back, me and a bunch of friends went out for drinks; I was already buzzed, and challenged Jim Beaver to a drinking contest. Bet him I could outdrink him." Jared shook his head with a rueful laugh. "Yeah, Jim's got a better alcohol tolerance than anyone else in the world. Whereas I start getting tipsy after two beers." Taking another drink, Jared continued, "So I get _hammered,_ and Jim's just sitting there cool as a cucumber, and now I'm getting kinda pissed. So I start throwing back more and more drinks, getting more and more drunk, and finally I just give up, crawl under the table, and fall asleep. Drool and all."

"That's beautiful, man," Chris chortled. "A guy your size should not have such shit alcohol tolerance."

Jensen could only agree. "An embarrassment to giants everywhere."

"But now it's your turn," Misha reminded him, turning expectantly to Chris. "Tell us something."

Chris took a drink from his bottle while he thought, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand afterwards. "The Jennybean story isn't actually very good," he decided; Jensen nodded reasonably. "So how about that time in the physics lab at school?"

Jensen's eyes widened and he sat up, nearly knocking Misha from his perch. "No. Not that one!"

Jared just laughed. "I know," he agreed easily, but he leaned forward eagerly. "Yes, that one! Anything that gets that reaction from Jen gets my vote."

Jensen glared at him, even as Chris cleared his throat dramatically to begin the tale. "So, we were in physics, obviously, and because Jenny was a giant nerd we were sat right at the front." Jensen looked away. "And he stands up to get something and comes back to his seat, chatting away to the teacher as he goes like no one's business. Completely didn't notice that his seat had been knocked over by some other kid."

"You're a dick," Jensen grouched belatedly, still not looking at the group. Chris just laughed.

"I don't know what it was like in your labs, but ours had really tall stools with four legs and a plank of wood across the top for you to sit on. Anyway, Jenny goes to sit down, but the stool has fallen against the bench in the row behind us, and he ends up fuckin' stuck in the underneath of the stool, between the legs. And I mean _stuck_. The teacher had to manhandle him for about ten minutes before his fuckin' perky ass popped out, and he's cussin' up a storm the whole time. Never seen anything like it."

Jared fell against Jensen's leg, cackling madly. "Oh, Jesus, I can see that," he snickered. "If Jensen was anything like he is now... Oh my God." He patted Jensen's leg soothingly. "It's not a bad thing if you were a nerd, you know."

"Oh, I know," Jensen said with a smile, which became cruel as he turned it on Chris. "What you failed to mention was that my stool wasn't knocked over by 'some other kid', and it didn't fall against the bench behind us. _You_ deliberately turned it _upside down_."

Chris' eyes flashed evilly. "And you called me a stupid fucking asshole at the top of your lungs."

Jensen glowered. "I got a week's detention for that, never mind the fact that I couldn't sit down properly for like a month. I maintain that you did serious damage that day. You're lucky I didn't sue."

"It would've been worth it if you had," Chris laughed.

"Whoa, wait, what?" Jared straightened up, staring at Chris. " _You_ turned it upside down? Fucking hell man, I gotta agree with Jen; you are an ass."

Jensen put a hand on Jared's shoulder, pulling him back against the chair. "Don't worry about it," he soothed. "It was a long time ago, and we were just kids. Besides, I got him back for it."

Jared tipped his head back, enjoying the warmth from Jensen's hand—a bit too much to be classified as "friendly," but he blamed it on the alcohol. "Really?" he grinned. "How?"

"Well, he was walking out of school one day about a week later, and it had been pouring with rain so the grass outside was slippery as all hell, and I saw him across the street so I yelled his name as loud as I could." Jensen smirked. "Kid jumped out of his skin and slipped, fell right on his ass and somehow managed to end up _coated_ in mud. Even his socks were brown."

"Yeah, yeah," Chris snarked, but Jensen wasn't done.

"And a teacher is driving past him just as it happens and stops their car to help him—winds his window down and gives him one fucking tissue before driving off. He looked like he wanted to cry."

Jared laughed, loud and long. "Jesus Christ, how are you two friends?" he chuckled, patting Jensen's leg and grinning at him. "Reminds me of the war Katie and Danni had going through middle school."

Jensen shrugged, grinning over at Chris. "I dunno, man," he answered. "I think you can't be friends as long as we have without causing each other some damage in the name of hilarity. And we wouldn't be such good friends without that either. God knows there's been enough shit we've had to deal with, if we couldn't laugh about some of it we'd have killed each other."

Chris flushed. "Okaay, time to take the alcohol away from Jensen. I'm far too manly for his maudlin BFFS routine."

"Oh, fuck you," Jensen snorted, throwing a cushion at Chris' head. It missed and landed on Steve's lap instead. "Shit. Maybe someone should take the alcohol away."

Jared laughed. "Yeah, before you end up seriously injuring yourself. Chad did that once—insisted he could walk along the top of one of those park-fence thingies; y'know, they're not actually fences, just there for decoration? He ended up singing soprano for a week."

"Shit," Jensen snickered. "Remind me to mention that next time I see him."

Jared laughed. "It was funny as hell," he agreed. He reached up and tugged the beer bottle from Jensen's hand, drinking it himself. "Can't let good alcohol go to waste," he shrugged.

"Says the lightweight," Jensen said with a smirk, but he didn't protest. The last time Jared had been drunk around him, Jensen hadn't been sober enough to enjoy it.

"Hey, I'll have you know I'm a fucking hilarious drunk," Jared scowled, smacking Jensen in the leg.

Steve rolled his eyes. "I'm sure," he deadpanned. "You'll have to be pretty damned impressive to beat out a sober Misha, though."

"Oh Steve," Misha cooed, fluttering his eyelashes. "Flattery will get you everywhere."

Jensen laughed. "Don't I know it," he teased. 

"Better than most," Misha conceded, and leaned into Jensen, who put an arm around him. 

Jared coughed, leaning away from the two with a smirk. "Christ, dudes, little obvious?" he teased, moving to sit next to Steve on the floor without thinking about it.

"Misha's mom busted his 'subtle' switch," Steve informed Jared, taking a swig of his own beer and absently picking at his guitar strings. "She dropped him on at least occasion I know of; nearly dropped him _on_ me, as a matter of fact."

Misha nodded solemnly, while Jensen just grinned. "Hey, the man can't help it if he thinks I'm awesome," he said with a shrug and a smirk. 

Jared's gut twisted again, and he stood up abruptly, pulling his phone from his pocket and pretending to read a text. "Gen needs my help," he lied. "She's having a crisis." He waved to everyone, offering Jensen an apologetic grin. "Sorry, man; it was awesome meeting your friends, though. Bye guys!" He pointed a finger accusingly at Chris before he left. "Don't go harrassing Jen."

That said, he all but bolted from the apartment, heading over to Gen's just so he'd have a cover story. She would call him all sorts of pathetic, but with any luck she'd have the good alcohol on hand.

Misha smiled and pressed a grateful kiss to Jensen's cheek. "True."

Everyone spent a moment in silence, staring bemusedly at the door through which Jared had just disappeared. Chris was the one to break it.

"Well that was not subtle."

Jensen had to agree, but he couldn't quite work out why Jared had left so abruptly. Maybe Genevieve really did need help, but he doubted it. Perhaps they'd done something to make him uncomfortable. 

"Was it something I said?" Misha giggled, putting voice to Jensen's thoughts. He shrugged.

"I have no idea."

He was too busy staring at the door to see the knowing look that Misha and Chris exchanged.

***

"You're a fucking pussy," Gen grumbled, shuffling into the living room bearing cans of ginger ale. "Why the fuck are you here instead of in Jensen's pants?"

Jared gaped at the tiny brunette. "Why the hell would I _want_ to be in his pants?" he asked, aghast. "He's my _friend_ , Ve."

Genevieve snorted. "And you're blind," she retorted, though it didn't make sense to Jared's alcohol-addled brain. "Whatever. Cover story is I needed your help deciding details for the date I'm gonna ask Danni on."

Jared nodded absently, still distracted by the thought that Genevieve thought he wanted in Jensen's pants. Yeah, Jensen was hot, even—scratch that; _especially_ —with that unorthodox look of his, but Jensen wasn't interested in him; he was interested in Misha, and Misha was interested in Jensen.

He jumped when Gen snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Hey, Space Cadet, head on Planet Earth, please. We need this to be a convincing cover story."

Jared nodded, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees as they plotted.

***

It was a few weeks later, and everyone was crowded around a table in a local bar—everyone, much to Jensen's displeasure, including Jake. Both his and Jared's groups had come together to support Chris' band at their first real gig. Sure, they were only opening for the main act, but it was still a big deal and Jensen knew that for all he claimed that he didn't need them there, Chris appreciated their presence. He was seriously nervous, and was currently backstage panicking instead of preparing for their set, which would begin in half an hour. Jensen knew this because Misha was not backstage panicking, or preparing for that matter; he was currently sat on Jensen's lap.

The past few weeks had been confusing for Jared, what with the growing... _whatever_ towards Jensen (or maybe that was the growing realization of existing feelings), and the growing resentment towards Misha's relationship with Jensen. Jared couldn't even be resentful of Misha, because the guy was pretty cool.

Jared had gone on a couple more dates—one guy he'd gone out with twice before declining a third—in the past few weeks, but all of the guys were lacking... something.

Jake noticed Jared eyeing Misha and Jensen, and wrapped his arm around Jared's waist, leaning in to whisper in his ear. "He's in another relationship, Jay. You gotta quit pining."

Jared shoved him away, scowling. "I'm not pining," he growled.

Jake snorted disbelievingly, but didn't say anything else; Chris's band had just walked onto the stage.

Chris stepped up to the mic, the bright lights overhead illuminating the sweat on his brow. "Umm, hey everyone," he began awkwardly. His eyes sought out Jensen's, and the big smile he received in return seemed to relax him. "We're Kane, and we're gonna play you some music just as soon as our drummer gets his ass on stage."

Everyone in the crowd tittered, and Misha was the loudest. "Oops, that's me," he giggled, smacking a kiss onto Jensen's cheek before sliding off his lap and hurrying to join Chris and Steve. 

Jensen laughed along with the others, and gave Chris the thumbs up when Misha took his place and it was time for them to start. They could do this; he knew they could. 

Jared's hand clenched around his glass when Misha kissed Jensen's cheek, but he forced himself to smile as the band started getting ready to play.

They were good, Jared had to admit. A _lot_ better than he'd been expecting. Everyone in the bar laughed when Misha abandoned his drumset for part of the song and just sat on the edge of the stage pinging a triangle.

The band was slated to do three songs before the actual performance, and the other two were just as good as the first. The rafters trembled with the volume of the applause and whistles, and Jared was right there with them.

"Damn, they're good!" he said, grinning at Jensen.

"You bet your ass!" Jensen yelled back. He was on his feet, shoulder to shoulder with Jared as they clapped and cheered, and nothing had ever felt so good. But then Jake was joining them, joining _Jared_ , pressing up against his back and pushing a beer into his hand before they sat back down. His buzz officially killed, Jensen resumed his own seat.

Chris, Steve and Misha joined them a few minutes later, carrying the free beers that had been promised to them by the bar's owner. Chris and Steve grabbed chairs from elsewhere while Misha slid onto Jensen's lap again. 

"So what did you think?" Chris asked, grinning like a loon.

Jensen wrapped an arm around Misha's middle to keep him still. "You guys were absolutely incredible," he laughed as the next band started up. "Someday soon you'll be fucking headlining, man!"

"You think Chris can handle that?" Misha asked, resting his head back against Jensen's shoulder. "He might piss himself."

Chris punched Misha's thigh. "I will not piss myself, you fucker."

Jared wanted to elbow Jake in the stomach, but he restrained himself. He kept his gaze carefully averred from where Jensen's arm was wrapped around Misha, choosing instead to laugh at Chris's indignant expression. "I don't know, Chris," he teased. "Think I see a couple tears in your eyes right now."

"Awww, baby gonna cry?" Jensen asked gleefully, grinning as he reached over to chuck Chris under the chin. He threw his head back and laughed when his hand was slapped away.

"Whatever," Chris spat, scowling. "Why don't you two go back to making goo-goo eyes at each other and shut the fuck up?"

Jensen's laughter died immediately. He'd never actually told Chris how he felt about Jared, but he was pretty sure his friend knew; how insensitive was it to rub Jared's relationship with Jake in his face like that?

Jared, of course, took that to mean Jensen's and Misha's relationship, and he stiffened, shrugging off Jake's "comforting" hand. "Whatever," he said, brushing it off. "Why don't you go give Steve that congratulatory kiss you've been _dying_ to give him all night?" he countered, smirking.

Chris shook his head, and Jensen noticed that his ears had turned slightly pink. "As if," he drawled. "We can't all be homos, y'know."

"Apparently we can," Jake snorted. "Dude, suck it up and go suck his dick."

This time Jared did elbow Jake in the stomach. "Jake, shut the fuck up," he snapped. "Jesus, you're being a dick tonight."

Everyone at the table stared at Jake, and it was Misha who spoke first. "Lover's spat?" he asked serenely. "Maybe you're the one who needs to get laid, sugar."

Jake glared at Misha. "Butt out," he growled.

Steve raised an eyebrow, looking at Chris appraisingly. "I don't know," he drawled, a slow smirk spreading across his face. "Don't think I'd mind having you suck my dick."

"Jesus Christ!" Chris hissed. "Why does everyone want to turn me into a fag? Come here." He grabbed Steve by the front of his shirt and hauled him to his feet. "I'll suck your dick." Without waiting for a response, he dragged Steve off in the direction of the restroom.

"What just happened?" Misha squeaked.

Jensen made a little 'huh' sound and shook his head. "I have no idea."

Steve laughed as he was dragged towards the restroom, grinning over his shoulder at the group.

Jared started cackling. "Chris finally pulled his head out of his ass," he chuckled.

"If only he wasn't the only one," Misha muttered, with a pointed look at Jared. 

Jared stilled, looking at Misha incredulously. "Excuse me?" he demanded. "What the hell is that look for?"

"What look?" Misha asked innocently, his expression clearing.

Jensen, who had been paying attention to the band, turned back to Jared. "Did I miss something?"

Jared narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "No," he said finally, turning to Jensen. "Nothing important." He could feel the alcohol buzzing through him already, clouding his mind, but he reached for another beer anyway, chugging half of it in one go in an effort to drown out the suggestion of Misha's words.

Misha twisted on Jensen's lap and touched his lips to Jensen's ear. "Ignorance is bliss," he murmured.

Jensen shrugged and offered Jared a bemused smile. "Okay then."

Jared slammed his bottle to the table. "I gotta go," he said stiffly. _Before I do something I regret._ He shoved his chair back, ignoring Jake's bewildered demand, and strode from the bar furiously, calling a cab as soon as he reached the curb—he'd come to the bar with Jensen.

The cab ride home was depressing, and even the enthusiastic greeting from Harley and Sadie couldn't lift his spirits, not after his realization: Chris wasn't the only one who'd pulled his head out of his ass tonight. Jared was finding out that ignorance really was bliss, especially when he was ignorant of the fact that he was in love with Jensen. Jared rubbed angrily at his face, cursing himself. Because _of course_ he would fall in love with the guy who was not only his best friend, but who was already in a relationship.

It was going to be a long night.

***

Jared wasn't the only one who was in for a bad night. Back at the bar, Jensen was fucking miserable. Chris and Steve had returned from the bathroom not long after Jared stormed out, closely followed by Jake, and they were all flushed cheeks and satisfied smirks. It made Jensen ache. Why couldn't he have something like that?

 _Because you're a freak_ , a snide voice in the back of his mind answered him. It sounded remarkably like his father. _You dress like a fucking clown and you expect people to fall for you? Even disgusting faggots wouldn't take a second glance at something like you_.

The voice was right, of course. Jensen supposed that he should be happy for Jared. Nice, normal Jared and his nice, normal boyfriend. He was everything that Jensen wanted and had everything that Jensen never would. And he was Jensen's best friend. So of course he should be happy for Jared. It just didn't seem to be working out very well.

"Chin up," Misha said softly as they prepared to go their separate ways outside of the bar. Chris and Steve were already gone; Misha and Jensen had been treated to a view of them making out in the back of a cab as they waved them off. "Something has to give eventually."

Jensen just offered him a wan smile and turned to walk away. Misha was right, but Jensen had a feeling that the only thing to give would be his heart.

***

Jared didn't speak to Jensen—or anyone, really, save the customers—for the next several days. He was indulging in a good sulk, he told himself, even though he sounded like a petulant child, even to himself.

Finally, though, Gen and Danni teamed up to ambush him in his house. They stuck around long enough to extract a promise from him that he would at least _talk_ to Jensen about what was going on. He wouldn't agree to ask Jensen out, but he couldn't help but wish that was an option.

Sighing to himself, he picked up the phone. **Hey, can we talk?** he texted.

Jensen was surprised to get Jared's text, but he wasn't going to complain. The past few days without seeing him had been hell, and Danni hadn't been very forthcoming with information despite the fact that she clearly knew something. **Sure** , Jensen sent back mere seconds later. **Like this or do u wanna meet?**

Jared hesitated for a moment, thumbs wavering over the keyboard, before typing, **Meet. The diner on 4th st sound good? Maybe tonight at 6?**

So Jared didn't want to come to the shop, or to meet at either of their homes. He wanted neutral ground. Interesting. 

Jensen checked the time. He had three hours in which to freak out over what this could mean.

**I'll be there. C u soon.**

Great.

***

Jared got to the diner first, and grabbed a booth, waving the waitress off for the moment; it was 5:56, Jensen should be here soon. He drummed his fingers on the tabletop, wishing he could know for certain what Jensen's reaction would be when Jared told him he'd fallen for him, but Gen and Danni hadn't given him any clues on that front, just telling him to talk to Jensen.

For once, Jensen arrived right on time, his nerves driving him to leave early and stop outside for a cigarette before entering the diner. His regained composure left him almost immediately when he spotted Jared, and the sense that he was walking to face his executioner returned—but he did his best to stay calm and slid into the seat opposite Jared with as much grace as a six foot tall man with a purple mohawk and a nose piercing could manage. A waitress appeared at his side before he could say so much as hello, and he ordered a coke and a plate of fries just to get rid of her. The coke arrived before he found his tongue again.

"Hey," he said at last, once he'd drained half of his glass. "How are you? Haven't seen you in a few days."

Jensen had changed his hair since the last time Jared had seen him, and Jared mused that it looked good on him; very distracting. The younger man jumped when Jensen spoke. "I've... been better," he admitted, not wanting to lie. He felt like he had to tread carefully here. "Been sorting some things out."

Jensen nodded, not sure that he liked where this was going. "Okay," he said slowly. "I'm guessing that has something to do with what you wanted to talk to me about, so... Go ahead."

Jared debated how to say it; should he do it slow, or fast, like ripping off a bandaid?

"I know you're my best friend, and I don't want to fuck anything up but I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you."

Well. Bandaid approach it is.

For a long moment Jensen just stared at him, utterly unable to comprehend what had just been said to him. The silence between them stretched on and on, seemingly endless, until—

"Your fries, sir."

Jensen didn't even look at the waitress, or at the plate she set down in front of him, but her interruption did help him to regain his voice. "You're in love with me?" he demanded once they were alone again. "What kind of sick joke is this?" 

Okay, _that_ wasn't the reaction Jared was expecting. Disbelief, anger, sure. Thinking it was... a joke? That didn't even cross Jared's mind. "What?" he demanded, stricken. "No, Jen, Jesus. How can you even think that?"

"Because—because," Jensen spluttered, completely floored by the anguish he could see in Jared's face. "You have Jake. You have _everything_. Why would you love me?"

"Jake?" Jared lets out a short, harsh laugh. "I don't 'have' Jake. Pretty sure Chad told you that we used to fuck sometimes." He tossed a careless grin at the little old lady who'd just let out an indignant squeak in the next table over. "And he's, for some reason, decided I belong to him, which is _wrong_ , by the way. As for why I'd love you, Christ, Jen, why wouldn't I? You're smart, funny, loyal, hot, and basically everything a guy could want."

Jensen held up a hand, trying to stem the flow of information. "Wait—so you're _not_ dating Jake?" Jared shook his head. "Oh." Well that changed things, didn't it? That changed things a whole lot. "Jared, I—" Jensen felt like he was going to choke on his tongue, but he had to get these next words out. "It's not going to fuck anything up. I... I feel the same."

While Jared had hoped to hear those words, they still floored him. He'd managed to talk himself out of the possibility of hearing Jensen say he felt the same. "You—Really?"

"Really," Jensen confirmed, gracing Jared with a sheepish smile. "I have for a while. But, with Jake and everything, I just—I never thought..."

A thought struck Jared. "Wait, what about Misha?" he asked, looking at Jensen intently. "I thought you were with him."

"What?" Jensen couldn't help it; he started to laugh. "Jared, Misha's married. To a _woman_."

Jared opened and closed his mouth a few times, at a loss for words. "Really?" he asks, dumbstruck. You would've thought he'd see the ring. "But he—he's been all over you for like, _weeks_!"

Jensen shook his head. "Misha's... affectionate. But he's not gay," he explained. "He just feels comfortable with me. We're both kinda weird, so I guess he thinks we need to stick together."

Jared was still stuck on the "Misha's married" part of this conversation. "I'm a idiot," he muttered to himself. "So... We're in love with each other, and both single," he summarized.

"Yes..." Jensen agreed, his eyes widening as the implications of Jared's words hit him. "But. But I don't think we should, y'know, rush into anything."

Jared can't help but chuckle at the look on Jensen's face. "I'm not saying we should," he reassured the other man. "I'm saying... We should go on a date. This doesn't count," he added, waving at the diner. "This is us figuring things out."

Jensen grinned. "I think that sounds like a great idea."

Jared smiled happily. "Great. So, maybe we should go for the cliche movie and dinner?" he suggested.

"Absolutely," Jensen agreed. With the incredible relief he was feeling came hunger, and he plucked a fry from the pile in front of him before pushing the plate towards Jared. "This weekend, maybe?"

Jared nodded, taking a fry as well. "Sure. There's several different movies out, and I know this great little Thai restaurant," he offered. "I can look up the times for the movies later tonight and text you?"

Jensen hummed around his third fry. Jesus, he was _starving_. Had he eaten at all today? "Perfect. Find us something that won't make our teeth rot, huh?"

Jared laughed. "Yeah, we wouldn't want to be _too_ cliche, now would we?" he teased, signalling the waitress over so that he could order a burger and sweet tea for himself, and let Jensen order some more food. After she'd left with their orders, Jared looked at Jensen with a grin on his face. "I didn't miss how you were scarfing those fries down," he chuckled.

"Uhh, yeah," Jensen acknowledged sheepishly. "I guess when the man you're in love with storms out of your friends' first gig and then doesn't talk to you for days, you get a bit distracted." He shrugged. "Nah, we were really busy at the shop today, didn't have time to stop for lunch—but that wasn't a pleasant experience, mind. I thought you were mad at me."

"I kinda was," Jared admitted sheepishly. "I mean, I never wanted to fall in love—not yet, anyway—and then I didn't figure you'd fall for me, I thought that you'd fall for someone like Misha, cause I'm just a guy who works in a bookstore and spends way too much of his paycheck on his dogs."

Jensen snorted. "And I'm just a guy who works in a coffee shop and spends way too much of his paycheck on body modification. Besides, you're fucking adorable with those dogs, Jay," he teased, smiling softly. "Misha's great, but he's... not the guy for me. That would be you."

Jared smiled down at his lap, suddenly shy. It felt surreal, hearing from Jensen that he really, truly was interested in Jared. "And you're the guy for me," he said finally, looking up and smiling at Jensen. "I'm still having a hard time believing I'm not dreaming."

Quick as a flash, Jensen leaned over the table and pinched Jared hard on the arm. "Did you wake up?" he asked, grinning mischievously. 

Jared swatted at Jensen's hand, laughing "No," he chuckled, reading out to take Jensen's hand in his, running his thumb over the back of the other man's hand. "And I'm glad of it."

Jensen gave Jared's hand a squeeze before releasing it as the waitress arrived with their food. The rest of the evening went well, and consisted of general smalltalk rather than more huge revelations. Both seemed inclined to keep things as normal as possible for now, pending their big date, which was officially set to Saturday night as they exited the diner.

"I really want to kiss you," Jensen confessed as they stood close together on the side of the road, neither eager to part ways. "But I'm not going to. If you pass all my tests on Saturday, I'll kiss you then."

Jared grinned. "All right," he agreed. "Not gonna pretend I'm not disappointed, but I see your logic, Mr. Spock." He pulled the shorter man into a hug, unable to help his chuckle. "I still find it amusing that I'm five years younger than you, but I still have a good three or four inches on you."

Jensen only grunted in response, too busy enjoying the feeling of Jared's body against his own, the strong arms around him and the warm breath against his ear enough to make his knees weak. They stayed like that for several long moments,  just breathing each other in, and when they pulled back it was only so that they could stare into each other's eyes, their faces mere inches apart. Jensen ached to close that gap and press his mouth to Jared's, but he couldn't. Not yet. For one, he didn't want Jared getting any nasty surprises when he came across the piercing in Jensen's tongue.

"I should go," he breathed, more than a little starstruck. "S-Saturday. I'll see you on Saturday." He stumbled out of Jared's arms and gave him a weak but genuine smile. "Can't wait."

Jared nodded, already missing the feeling of Jensen in his arms. "Saturday," he echoed, waving a little before turning and walking down the sidewalk (and nearly into a lamp post).

***

The next few days were a mixture of heaven and hell for Jensen. Heaven because he had the love of the most amazing guy he'd ever met; hell because he had yet to work out how he was going to keep it. In the end, though, it was pretty obvious. Jared had managed to look past the hair and the piercings and the weird clothes and decide that underneath, he was worth something. How better to show his gratitude than to make that less difficult for other people to understand? 

Between getting home after his shift on Friday afternoon and Jared arriving to pick him up on Saturday night, Jensen lost track of the amount of times he washed his hair. He'd even gone out and bought a particular shampoo—own brand, coconut scented—that he'd used once before only to throw it in the trash when it had returned strands of his then-electric blue hair to its natural colour, but it had still taken what felt like forever. At last, the remainder of the purple dye swirled down the drain, and when Jensen had towel-dried and then blow-dried his hair, it was back to its original, almost forgotten light brown.

By the time he answered the door to Jared at six thirty sharp, just as they'd agreed, he had undergone a complete transformation. His hair had also been tamed into a far more acceptable style than its usual mohawk, the piercings, eyeliner and black nail polish were all gone, and he was wearing black slacks and a simple blue button down that covered all of his tattoos, except for an elegent tribal design that curled up one side of his neck, just above the shirt's collar. In short, Jensen Ackles looked completely normal.

"Hey," he greeted Jared with a wide grin. "Just let me grab my coat and we can go, okay?"

Jared had been looking forward to Saturday all week, but when he opened the door to Jensen's apartment, he was greeted by a stranger who sounded just like Jensen. He stared for a moment before swallowing. "You look good," he offered. It was true, even if it wasn't the Jensen Jared was used to seeing. "Yeah, okay, coat," he said absently, studying Jensen intently.

Jared waited patiently for Jensen to come back with his coat, and then they headed down the stairs and to Jared's car. Dinner was delicious, and the movie they went to go see, _The Secret Life of Walter Mitty_ , was good. But when they got back to Jensen's apartment, Jared hesitated before saying goodbye. "I call a do-over," he said abruptly.

"What?" Jensen stared up at Jared, his eyes wide and confused. The date had gone really well, even if eating without his tongue piercing felt weird and the clothes were a little uncomfortable, and Jensen could see no reason why Jared wouldn't have had a good time. "A do-over? Why?"

"Because I want a date with the _real_ Jensen," Jared said, waving his hand in Jensen's general area. "This is nice, and _you_ look good—but this isn't you."

Jensen blanched. Shit, had it really been so obvious that he'd felt awkward? "Yes it is," he insisted weakly. "Or, at least, it will be. Just gotta get used to it, that's all."

Jared shook his head, reaching out to take Jensen's face in his hands carefully. "This isn't the real you," he insisted quietly. "From where I stand, this is who you think I want to see."

Jensen squirmed in Jared's hold for a moment before pulling away and turning to let himself into his apartment. No way was he doing this standing out in the hall. Chris wasn't home—he'd been at Steve's a hell of a lot lately—so he flicked the lights on and went inside, leaving Jared to follow. "You don't have to do this, Jay," he muttered when they got to the kitchen, tossing his keys onto the work surface. "I've seen Jake. You've told me all about the other guys you've dated. They were all normal. You liked me despite what I looked like, and I'll never be able to tell you how much that means to me, so let me do this for you instead. Let me be what you want."

" _You're_ what I want," Jared told Jensen, not moving into the other man's personal space. "Tattoos, piercings, crazy hair, all of it." He shrugged off his jacket, moving a bit closer. "Those guys I dated? I only dated them because I thought I couldn't have you. I don't _want_ normal. Normal's boring."

"You're normal," Jensen pointed out. He sighed. "If you're looking for someone quirky, ask Misha and Vick to set you up with one of their friends. If you hadn't already noticed, I'm a freak, Jared."

Jared smacked Jensen lightly in the back of the head. "Hey, no one disses my boyfriend like that, not even my boyfriend," he said softly, smiling at Jensen. "You're not a freak. You've got armor, sure, but that armor's _you._ I don't know how to explain to you that I love you, every part of you, and I don't care if you pierce your eyeballs, I'll still love you."

The shock of the smack had some of what Jared was saying finally getting through to Jensen, and when he blinked his wide eyes he noticed, much to his chagrin, that his lashes were wet. At least he wouldn't have to worry about smudging his eyeliner if he started crying like a little bitch. "Are you serious?" he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Jared smiled, leaning forward to press a soft kiss to Jensen's forehead. "So serious," he promised.

Jensen offered Jared a watery smile in return and then pressed in close, hiding his face in the crook of Jared's neck. "I love you."

Jared stroked Jensen's hair and back soothingly, pulling the other man in close. "Love you, too," he murmured, kissing the top of Jensen's head.

"I'm sorry," Jensen whispered against Jared's throat, his arms tightening around the taller man's waist. "Everyone always wants me to be normal, and I know I'm not the kind of guy you usually go for. I just wanted you to stay."

"Hey, hey," Jared shushed, hugging Jensen just a little tighter. "I'm not everyone, you should know that by now. And trust me, I wasn't leaving when we were just friends, but now that I've actually been on a date with you? You'd have to pry me away with a crowbar. I love you, and this feels like the forever kind of love. I don't plan on leaving you without a fight."

"Me neither," Jensen mumbled, and he could feel the iron fist that had been clenched around his heart for so many years loosen and fall away. "God, Jare, me neither."

Jared didn't say anything for several long moments, and then he pulled back, rubbing Jensen's shoulders soothingly. "Better?" he asked, smiling at Jensen.

"A lot better," Jensen agreed, smiling back. "Thank you, Jared." His methods for showing gratitude thus far seemed to have hit well off the mark, but this time it just felt natural to lean in and capture Jared's lips in a soft kiss.

Jared was a bit stunned by the kiss, but he quickly recovered, kissing Jensen back gently. When they pulled apart, he smiled. "Love you," he murmured.

"Love you, too," Jensen returned, and he was starting to worry that he would never get sick of saying or hearing those words. "Do you have to go home tonight?"

"I can get Danni to take care of Harley and Sadie," Jared said, pulling out his phone. "Why?" He was pretty sure Jensen wouldn't want sex, not this soon.

Jensen shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "I don't want you to leave, but I was up all night washing my hair and—" A yawn cut him off, just proving his point. "So if you stayed, we could go to bed. No sex—just sleeping?"

Jared grinned. "Sounds good to me." Struck by inspiration, Jared sent both Gen and Danni separate texts, asking them to look after his dogs, and telling them to help themselves to anything edible in his house, including but not limited to any alcohol they may find.

He snickered to himself as he put his phone away, turning back to Jensen. "With any luck, we won't be subjected to anymore lesbian oh-my-god-I-wanna-screw-her drama."

"You're such a man," Jensen laughed, smacking Jared in the chest. "But you're a genius. You want anything before we turn in?"

Jared shook his head, still grinning. He couldn't believe he was this lucky, that Jensen loved him back. "Nah, I'm good," he replied, nuzzling Jensen's neck. "C'mon, let's go."

Jensen practically purred, and he made sure to steal another kiss before he pulled away from Jared just enough to catch his hand and lead him into the bedroom. 

It felt all kinds of good to peel off the shirt and pull on a soft, worn tee, and it felt even better to purposefully mess up his hair, but neither compared to the moment Jared slid into bed beside him and wrapped him up in his arms. Jared was everywhere, and Jensen was helpless to do anything but melt into the warm embrace. Thus situated, he managed to stay awake only long enough to lace their fingers together and mumble a barely coherent, "Night, Jay."

Jared smiled, squeezing Jensen's hand affectionately and kissing his brow. "Goodnight, Jen," he murmured back.

***

The next morning, Jensen had absolutely no trouble recalling what had happened the night before. Jared had convinced him that he loved him for who he was, piercings and crazy hair and all, and then he'd spent the night. They hadn't done anything besides cuddle and sleep, but still, Jensen couldn't remember when he had felt happier. He certainly didn't feel happier now.

Jared wasn't in bed with him, and hadn't been for some time if the cold sheets were anything to go by. A niggle of doubt tugged at the back of Jensen's mind, asking him if Jared had had second thoughts, or perhaps even lied about how he felt, and done a runner while Jensen slept. But Jensen refused to think like that, and as he sat up with a soft rustle of bedsheets, he heard someone moving about in the kitchen. Of course, that could just be Chris, but Jensen knew it wasn't. He got up and pulled on a pair of sweats before padding from the room in search of his boyfriend.

Jared jumped and cursed when the toast popped out of the toaster; damned thing got him every time. A shuffling sound drew his attention, and he grinned as he caught sight of Jensen coming around the corner. "Morning," he said, moving to kiss Jensen quickly before making sure the eggs and sausages didn't burn. "Didn't see any bacon in your fridge, so I went for the next best thing."

Jensen grinned and moved to lean against the work surface beside Jared. "Yeah, Chris normally handles the groceries but he's really not been around lately and I've been a little... distracted," he teased. "This looks amazing, though. Thank you."

Jared chuckled as he transferred the food onto plates. "You're welcome. And I bet he's been distracted; Steve hasn't let go of him since the bar, has he?"

"Not for more than a few seconds," Jensen confirmed with a laugh. "But Chris is returning the favour, so it's not a big deal. They're fucking adorable."

Jared grinned as he set the plates down at the table. "Babe, can you grab me some orange juice?" he asked, rummaging through the drawers for silverware. "And yes, they are. And I swear Chris was almost as oblivious as me—fucking obvious Steve wanted him."

"Less obvious that I wanted you, perhaps," Jensen reasoned as he grabbed the orange juice out of the fridge and poured some into glasses. "But Chris didn't even know he was into guys, so I guess I can understand why Steve's interest didn't register."

Jared hummed thoughtfully as he accepted the glass from Jensen and sat down. "Maybe," he conceded after a moment. "Still, we've got everything sorted out now."

They still had a long way to go—or, rather, Jensen did—but yeah, it felt like everything was going to be okay. Jensen graced Jared with a soft smile and picked up his fork.

***

For the second first date, Jared and Jensen had decided to go to another movie— _Anchorman 2_ , this time—and to Cracker Barrel for dinner. This time, when Jared came to pick Jensen up, his hair was back to its normal crazy color, and his piercings were in. "Good," he grinned, leaning down to kiss Jensen. "Personally, I think you look _much_ better like this."

"Oh," Jensen laughed once he'd returned the kiss, mostly to draw attention from the fact that he was blushing like a huge girl. "So I'm only attractive when my face is obscured by bits of metal? Thanks, man."

"Nope," Jared said blithely. "You're just _more_ attractive this way." He grinned at his boyfriend, taking his hand and leading him to the car.

"I'm still not sure that's a compliment," Jensen chuckled as he followed Jared out of the building. "But I'll take it, I guess. Hey." He tugged on Jared's hand when they reached the car, making him stop at the side of it. "Thank you for this," he murmured. "For everything, just—thanks."

Jared smiled softly at his boyfriend. "You're welcome," he said. "And thank you, too." He ducked down to kiss Jensen gently, pouring everything he couldn't say into it.

Jensen returned the kiss readily, sliding his fingers into Jared's soft hair and pressing up against him as their lips moved together. The kiss wasn't particularly hard or passionate, but the emotion in it was enough to make Jensen's knees weak; when at last they broke apart, he offered Jared a shaky smile and stumbled back barely half a step. "We should go," he said, somewhat breathless. "Don't wanna miss the movie."

Jared smiled. "Of course not," he murmured, squeezing Jensen's hand before helping him into the car, and then Jared climbed into the driver's side. 

This date went so much better than the first, and by the end of it Jensen was finally starting to relax. They could make this work; they _would_ make this work. Date night became a weekly thing, with Jared still coming into the coffee shop every day for a muffin along with his morning caffeine fix. Danneel often complained, asking Jensen how he could stand seeing Jared so often, but he knew full well that she disappeared to meet Genevieve for lunch even on the days she wasn't working. Things between the two women seemed to be progressing nicely—and a lot faster than things between Jared and Jensen.

There was only one point on which they were lagging behind: two months into their relationship and, despite already being madly in love, Jensen was still insisting that they take things slow. About a week after their second first date, Danneel had come bouncing into the shop in high spirits, glowing unmistakably, and had laughed that it was about time that Jared got with the program. "You're the ones with the dicks," she'd pointed out archly. "You're supposed to want it more than we do. What gives?" 

What gave was that Jensen just wasn't ready. He'd let Jared in quite a way in the past few months, but this was one thing that he couldn't bring himself to buckle on. The lifelong fear that he would somehow be found wanting prevailed, and while Jensen trusted Jared with pretty much anything, he didn't trust himself. He didn't know how to.

Jared had been great about it, patient as a saint and more than willing to wait until Jensen was ready, but Jensen sensed that it would soon become an issue. Just how long could Jared be expected to stay with him without sex, after all? The thought of Jared leaving scared the shit out of Jensen, and he was resigned to the fact that he would have to face up to his fears eventually, but that didn't mean he wasn't grateful when an excuse to delay the inevitable conveniently presented itself.

"So, I got a call from my sister today," Jensen said quietly. It was date night yet again, and he was sitting opposite Jared in a cute little Italian restaurant. It was very intimate, with a colour scheme of dark browns and deep crimsons, and candles on every table. The sort of place Jensen wouldn't normally be seen dead in looking like he did, but Jared brought out a confidence in him that he had never possessed before. He could hardly feel the weight of the gazes of the staff and patrons, ranging from curious to disdainful, burning into the back of his head. "She's putting on an art show back home, wants me to go. It's tomorrow."

The past two months had been the best of Jared's life to date. He had an amazing boyfriend, and even if they hadn't done more than kiss, he was okay with that. He understood Jensen's reasons behind wanting to wait, even if he did get a little frustrated that more times than not he had to go home to just his hand.

Jared smiled at Jensen's announcement; he hadn't heard Jen talk about his family much. "That's great," he enthused, grinning. "When do we leave?"

Jensen blinked. Of all the reactions he'd expected, he hadn't even considered this one. "Um, actually, I was planning on going alone," he admitted awkwardly. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to meet my family just yet."

Jared froze, and then swallowed. Oh. Well. Of course Jensen wouldn't want to introduce Jared to his family, not if he'd barely mentioned them before now. "Oh, all right," he said, voice subdued. "Yeah, you're probably right." He offered Jensen a smile, and if it was a bit dimmer than usual, he chalked it up to the slightly-stale garlic bread. "So, what kind of art is it?"

Jensen shrugged, offering Jared a bemused smile. "Fucked if I know," he answered with a laugh. "She was real private about her art when I left. That's why I have to go; an art show is a huge deal for her."

Jared nodded in understanding. "Well, here's hoping it goes well. So what time do you have to leave?”

"Early in the morning," Jensen told him with a slight wince. "The show isn't until tomorrow night, but y'know. I have to socialise."

Jared winced sympathetically. "Do your sister's friends not like you?" He knew Jensen wasn't very sociable, but surely he had some friends in his old town?

That wasn't exactly what Jensen had meant, but he rolled with it. No need for Jared to know that for Jensen, socialising with his family was more of a chore than hanging out with a bunch of screaming teenage girls had ever been. "Oh, they like me," he said easily. "They think I'm fascinating. Like a particularly interesting bug. I think if I stayed still long enough they'd do experiments on me."

Jared grinned. "Teenage girls are fucking terrifying," he said sagely. Then he sobered. "What about your family?"

Jensen shrugged. "They're family, you know," he dismissed. "My mom'll probably go spare when she sees me. It's been a while."

Jared frowned. It seemed like there was something Jensen wasn't telling him, but he wasn't going to push it. "Well, hopefully your family won't be too apeshit," he said after a moment.

"Hopefully," Jensen agreed with a wry smile. "What do you want for dessert?"

***

The next day found the rest of the Ackles family in a flurry of activity, preparing for MacKenzie's first art show. It wasn't just hers, of course; her artwork was being shown alongside several other artists', but publicity was publicity, and every bit helped MacKenzie complete her dream of becoming a renowned watercolor artist.

Jensen had been told to arrive at the Ackles house at precisely eleven o' clock, so that the family could spend time catching up and finishing prepping before the showing began at seven that evening.

Of course, Jensen always was a difficult child; his knock didn't come until well after noon. Alan answered the door, eyeing his youngest son critically. "Jensen," he said finally. "Late, as ever. Come." He turned his back on Jensen—where the boy had gotten his penchant for such outlandish dress, the pastor had no clue. Certainly not from his side of the family—and led the way through the foyer and to the living room. "Jensen has finally decided to... _grace_ us with his presence," he informed the rest of the family, sitting next to his wife on the loveseat. "And, as you can see, he has yet to give up on his ridiculous fashion statement."

Jensen kept his expression carefully clear. "I got stuck in traffic," he explained to the room at large. "I'm sorry for being late." He didn't even bother addressing the issue of his appearance, although he had attempted to dress down for the occasion. Not to the extent that he had done for Jared, because his family weren't worth that kind of consideration, but his hair was as unobtrusive a shade of red as he could get it and he had taken out the piercings in his nose and eyebrow. Everyone present knew that if this visit wasn't for his sister's benefit, he wouldn't have even gone that far.

Alan simply raised one eyebrow. "You know what traffic is like around here," he said scathingly. "You should have left earlier."

Donna laid a hand on her husband's arm. While she didn't approve of Jensen's life choices, she also didn't approve of Alan's poorly-concealed hostility towards their middle child. "Jensen, how have you been doing? You haven't contacted any of us since you moved. It's a bit depressing."

Jensen fought the urge to snap at his father and instead turned his attention to his mother, grateful for her timely if completely unsubtle interruption. "I meant to call," he lied, "but I've been really busy, with work and stuff. So it just kept slipping my mind. I'm doing okay though." A little smile curved Jensen's mouth. "More than okay. How have things been here?"

Alan opened his mouth, but Donna beat him to it. "Mac has her art show, obviously, and the church is doing well," she answered, squeezing Alan's arm warningly.

"The whole church has been asking after you," Alan said, shaking his wife's hand off. "Asking if you're still as full of sin as when you left."

"Alan!" Donna hissed, shocked.

Jensen actually felt it when all of the colour drained from his face. A scuffling sound momentarily caught his attention, however, and a glance to the side told him that Josh was practically sitting on Mackenzie to keep her quiet, his own gaze intent on their father. Jensen followed his example. "Well, I'm in a relationship now," he said slowly. "With a man who loves me very much. So, I'm guessing that means yes."

With a shout of triumph, Mackenzie finally managed to shove Josh off of her, and she jumped to her feet. "Jensen, that's great!" she gasped breathlessly, crossing the room to give him a hug. He hugged back, tightly, breathing her in. There was no one in this world quite like his little sister.

"Great?" Josh spat, just proving Jensen's point. "You think the fact that your big brother is taking it up the ass is _great_? I can't believe you even invited him here in the first place. He's an embarrassment."

Alan stared at Jensen, stunned. Donna, on the other hand, smiled. "Well, if you're happy—" she began, but Alan cut her off.

"'If he's happy'?" he snarled. "How can he be happy, living in sin like he is? Josh is right: he's an embarrassment, and I find it hard to believe that you would want to associate with him, sinner that he is."

"Dad," Jensen interrupted, soft and plaintive. Hurt flickered briefly across his face before he managed to school his features once more. "I love someone.  And he is kind and good, and he loves me, too. How is that a sin?" It was an age-old argument, one that Jensen and his father had had many times over the years, but he didn't think he would ever stop asking that question. How could a son stop wanting to understand why his dad didn't love him?

"It is a sin, because it has been forbidden by God!" Alan hissed, surging to his feet, bristling. "Leviticus 18:22 says it clear as day!"

"Alan!" Donna snapped, getting to her feet as well. "Enough! Jensen is here for Mac, and this is supposed to be a happy day for her—fighting among the family is the opposite of happy!"

"She's right, Dad!" Mackenzie agreed, visibly upset. "I invited Jensen here. Can't you just be nice?"

Josh growled. "I don't know what's wrong with either of you, but if you've got any sense, Mac, you won't want that freak at your show anyway."

f it was possible, Jensen turned even paler. "I'm not a freak," he said softly, for the first time in his life.

Alan bared his teeth, but didn't say anything when Donna pinched his arm. "You're not," Donna said calmly. "You're welcome at the art show, since you and I, apparently, are the only Ackles who truly support Mac."

More than anything, Jensen wanted to hug his mom just then—but he didn't. She was only doing this for Mac; they both knew very well that she thought Jensen was as sinful as Alan claimed. Still, by this point, he'd learned to take kindness where he could get it. "Thanks Mom," he murmured, with a little smile for Mackenzie. "I'm really looking forward to the show."

Alan didn't get another chance to confront his son until just before he left the next day. He approached Jensen as he was packing his car, crossing his arms over his chest and tapping his foot impatiently. "What's his name?" he demanded as soon as he had Jensen's attention. "This... _man_ you claim loves you."

"Jared," Jensen answered without even looking around. "His name is Jared. Why?"

"Oh, no reason," Alan said, his voice casual but his eyes betraying the malice he felt. "Just wanted to know the name of the man who conned my sinner of a son into believing anyone could fall in _love_ with _him_."

Jensen closed his eyes against the pain these words induced, sharp and piercing right in his chest. "It's not a con," he said tightly. "He loves me. He even said it before I did; before we were even together. So nice try, Dad."

"And how do you know he's telling the truth?" Alan challenged. "He's already going to Hell—might as well go with bells on, and drag you with him."

"Sorry Dad, but that's bullshit," Jensen snapped, rounding on Alan. "You wouldn't believe the things he's done for me, the lengths he's gone to. I know he loves me because I see it in his eyes. It might be a long time since I last looked love in the face, but I still know it when I see it. It has nothing to do with us going to Hell. We're not. You are."

"If you're so sure he loves you, then why didn't you bring him here?" Alan sneered. "If he loves you, he would be by your side constantly. Did he even put up a fight when you told him you were coming alone?"

"Not really," Jensen admitted, not quite sure how he was getting so turned around. That didn't mean Jared didn't love him, did it? "But he wanted to come; I just told him I was going by myself, because I wanted to keep him away from you."

"So you're afraid of him meeting us? Why?" Alan challenged. "Afraid that we'll show him just why he shouldn't love you—make him see just how much of a good-for-nothing _freak_ you really are?"

Jensen sighed, feeling all of the fight drain out of him. "Yeah," he said softly. "That's exactly why."

Alan smirked. "Then why bother?" he asked. "Why stay with him when you know one day he'll leave you for someone he won't be ashamed or embarrassed to be seen with in public?"

With that last shot, the Ackles patriarch turned on his heel and walked away.

***

Jensen got home a little earlier than planned, but he didn't call Jared like he'd promised. Instead, he logged straight onto his PC and checked out k-b's page. If anyone could help him straighten out the mess inside his head, it was this guy.

**_just saw my dad for the first time since i moved out, and all he did was remind me how much of a freak i am. said my bf will stop loving me when he works it out. but it's not just that. i'm finding it rly difficult to go further than kissing with him. i want to, but i'm scared out of my mind. is it even worth trying to keep him, or should i just quit while i'm ahead? -P._ **

Jared was trying to keep himself from worrying about Jensen by distracting himself with tumblr; when he saw Priestly's message, he almost let out a sigh of relief. Finally, a good distraction. Jared read the message over several times, carefully wording his response.

_It's perfectly normal to be worried about moving further than kissing with anyone, even the person you are in love with. You can't let your father rule your life, not after you've gone to such lengths to get away from him. As for your boyfriend pulling away from you, why would he? If he's already dating you, then he knows you're an amazing person. You can't let fear rule your life, Priestly. You need to take chances, or life won't be worth living._

_So, while I'm not saying you should jump right in and fuck him(or let him fuck you, whatever your preference), I'm saying you should trust him, and see where things go._  

For the first time in the year since they'd started messaging, Jensen doubted k-b's advice. It wasn't that he thought it was unsound, but rather that he wasn't sure if he could do what k-b was suggesting. Should he trust Jared, who had known him and loved him only for a few months, or his father, who had known him and hated him for most of his life? And as for the sex stuff—should he put it off for as long as possible, or should he listen to k-b and follow Jared's lead? Jensen honestly had no idea, but the time that he'd predicted he would be home was fast approaching, and Jared was unlikely to let him get away with not calling for more than an hour or two. He would have to make a decision soon.

***

Jared finally decided to call Jensen when, two hours after Jensen had predicted he'd get home, he still hadn't called. Jared quickly dialed his number, and then crossed his fingers, hoping Jensen would pick up.

"Jared," Jensen said when he answered, too tense to bother with the formalities. "Sorry I didn't call, I got distracted with unpacking and stuff. How are you?"

Jared hesitated at Jensen's tone; he sounded upset. "I'm good," he said finally. "What about you?"

"I'm good," Jensen echoed, and even to him the words sounded hollow and untrue. His mouth was suddenly bone dry. "Can you come over?"

Jared nodded, but then he remembered Jensen couldn't see him. "Yeah, sure. Give me five minutes."

"Thanks." Jensen hung up without waiting for a reply and then stood there in the middle of his bedroom, wringing his hands. "Chris!" he yelled after a moment. "I need you to go out!"

The opening and then slamming of a door; the sound of footsteps thundering down the hall; the opening of another door. Chris poked only his head into the room. "Why the fuck would you need me to do that?"

Jensen turned to look at him. "Jared's coming over," he said simply, with just the right inflection on the words. Chris may have been his oldest and dearest friend, may have known him better than anyone else in the world, but Jensen still knew how to play him. 

As predicted, Chris' face lit up. "Seriously?" he demanded, gleeful. "You're finally gonna put out? No, no. Say no more. I'll be spending the night at Steve's. Have fun, Jenny!"

He was gone a few minutes later, leaving Jensen alone in the apartment. A split second too late, he wished he'd asked Chris to stay.

***

The whole walk over to Jensen's apartment, Jared fretted. Jensen hadn't sounded good on the phone, and the way he sounded when he asked Jared to come over... He'd sounded like he was setting up something he was going to regret.

By the time Jensen let him into the apartment, Jared had worked himself into an almost full-blown panic attack. So, understandably, the first words out of his mouth were: "You're not breaking up with me, are you?"

"Umm." Jensen stared, a deer caught in headlights. He hadn't actually decided what he was going to do yet, but faced with this outburst, the answer seemed clear. It was for the best. "Yeah," he answered slowly, awkwardly. "Yeah, I think so. I just—it's really not gonna work, Jare."

Jared stared at Jensen for a moment, startled. "No," he said, once he had his voice back. ''I don't think so. Jen, what's going on? What happened? You were fine when you left for Richardson. _We_ were fine."

Jensen actually took a step back. He couldn't reckon with the force of Jared's words when he was so close. "We were," he conceded, voice shaking slightly. "But I guess the time away gave me some space to think? And I—I don't want... this."

"Bull," Jared said firmly. "You're trying to tell me that after everything we went through to get together, you change your mind in one day?"

"Yes," Jensen answered weakly. "I made a mistake. I'm sorry."

Jared studied Jensen intently, hesitating before he said anything else. "Jen," he said quietly, coaxingly, "What happened while you were away?"

"Nothing happened!" Jensen shouted, and wow, he hadn't meant for that to come out so loud, or so high. He shut down completely, backing away another few steps and refusing to meet Jared's eye. When he spoke again his voice was a lot softer. "Please, Jare, don't do this. Just go."

"Jen, you know I can't," Jared said softly. "You're upset, and you weren't before you left. Please, talk to me. If not as your boyfriend, then your best friend. Please?"

Jensen took a deep, shaky breath and let it out slow. Stalling. Playing for time. His mind was racing, as was his heart. "It's just—it's for the best, okay?" he began desperately. "He was right, _everything_ he said was right. You don't want me in your life, I'm not good for anything. I swear. And you might not believe that now but one day you'll see it, probably when I can't keep you from meeting him anymore, and I don't want you to go, Jared, but you will. You'll leave and it'll fucking kill me and I'll deserve it, because I should never have let this happen in the first place. It was dumb and selfish and you'll be better off without me, just like everyone else."

Jared took a deep breath as well, taking time to choose his words carefully. "I'm going to assume you're talking about your dad, or someone else from your family," he started, his voice neutral. "But I'm going to tell you this before I say anything else: I will not leave you, or have second thoughts about our relationship, _ever._ I love you, okay? I don't know what else I can do to prove it to you. As for you being dumb and selfish, you're not. You're smart and helpful, and you _deserve_ to be loved, not left. Whoever managed to convince you that you're not worth anyone's time is the one who deserves a life without love."

"You're wrong," Jensen argued. "You don't know me, not like they do. And I never want you to. That's why this has to end now. If my own mom doesn't think I'm worth shit, how can you?"

"Because I can see you're a good guy! I'm a fresh perspective, Jen!" Jared said, exasperated and a bit scared. "Jen, please, don't do this. This isn't going to save you pain, or whatever else you're thinking. It isn't; it's just gonna hurt both of us."

"Maybe, but it'll hurt a lot less in the long run," Jensen insisted. "It isn't just about whether I'm a good guy or a waste of space or a... a freak. It probably won't even come to them meeting you and making you see exactly why you shouldn't love me. How long are you gonna stay with a guy who won't have sex with you, Jared?"

"As long as he'll let me," Jared retorted, stepping closer. "Yeah, you're hot, and I want a piece of that—actually, no, I don't. I want to _make love_ to you, Jen. But I don't mind if we never get to the stage, because I'm happy just being _with_ you."

"Bullshit," Jensen choked out. He backed up again and ended up flattened against a wall. _Shit._ "We both know I'm no good, Jay. I wanted to be good enough for you, but I'm not; I can't even bring myself to put out. You won't wait forever, and I can't ask you to. "

"You're not asking me to, Jen; I am. Don't you get it by now? I just want you. Whatever you're willing to give me, Jensen." Jared cautiously reached out, not touching Jensen, and not blocking him against the wall, but offering himself. "I love you. If you really— _really_ —feel like this is the best thing to do, then I'll walk out that door, and the next time you see me, I'll just be your friend. Nothing more." Jared took a breath before he let the next words out of his mouth. "But even if you do, I will never, _never_ , stop loving you. I don't know how. But I'll respect whatever you decide."

And that was it, really. It was Jensen's choice, because how else could Jared prove to Jensen that he was serious? Jensen would have to decide to trust Jared, and Jared couldn't do anything else to show Jensen that he could, that Jared would always be there for him.

Jensen could feel that this conversation had reached its pinnacle; that whatever decision he made now was final, do or die. He took a moment. Jared wasn't pressuring him in any way, but it was clear that he needed an answer. For a few minutes that stretched into an eternity, the only sound in the room was Jensen's deep, even breathing—but at last, he knew what to do. With a strangled sob, he stepped forwards and fell into Jared's arms.

Jared wrapped Jensen up in an embrace, a relieved sob choking him as he buried his face in the crook of Jensen's neck. They stood like that for several moments, Jared stroking soothing patterns into Jensen's back, before Jared spoke. "Bedroom?" he asked quietly. "I just want to hold you. You kinda scared me back there." He made sure that the last part was said lightly, but that didn't belittle the fact that it was true; Jared had been scared that he was going to lose the man he loved more than anything.

Jensen really didn't want to move, but being horizontal for this was probably a good idea. "Sounds good," he mumbled, pulling back to look up into Jared's face, his arms around Jared's neck. "I'm sorry. I was scared, too."

Jared smiled, moving carefully to kiss Jensen, soft and slow. "I know," he murmured. "I know." He smiled mischieviously before picking Jensen up completely, his hands cupping Jensen's ass. "Don't wanna let you go," he offered by way of explanation, making his way to the bedroom.

"Goddamn it, Jared!" Jensen squawked, his legs wrapping around Jared's waist automatically. "If you drop me, I swear to God!"

Jared snickered. "You'll do what?" he challenged, dumping Jensen on the bed and following, climbing over Jensen's body to kiss him.

Jensen fisted a hand in Jared's hair, sighing into his mouth. "I'll kick you out," he mumbled into the kiss, a smile on his lips. "I'll go back home, ask my dad to forgive my sins so I can be a good little straight boy."

"So I'm dating the son of a minister?" Jared grinned. "You sure you want to continue down that path? All sorts of kinky things we could get into..." He smiled, kissing Jensen again.

Jensen went rigid beneath Jared, his lips slackening against his kisses. "Except not," he mumbled when Jared pulled back to see what was wrong, squirming until Jared had to get off of him. Jensen pointedly turned onto his side, his back to his boyfriend. "'All sorts of kinky things'? Way to convince me that sex isn't a big deal to you, Jare."

Shit. Jared facepalmed himself, settling onto his side behind Jensen, but not reaching for him. He wanted to fix their relationship, make sure Jensen knew Jared really just wanted to be with him, not kill it. "I'm sorry," he said, contrite. "I didn't—I'm sorry. I was teasing, but I shouldn't have said that."

Jensen sighed, and shuffled until he could press into the warm, hard body behind him, reaching back to pick up Jared's arm and settle it over his waist. Comfortable with both the position and the closeness, he threaded their fingers together against his stomach. "It's not that I don't want to," he confessed on a soft exhale. "I do. But it's... complicated." Jared couldn't see his face, but he screwed his eyes shut and bit his lip anyway, feeling his cheeks flush with shame. "I've only been with one other guy, and it, uhh. It didn't work out too well."

Jensen sighed, and shuffled until he could press into the warm, hard body behind him, reaching back to pick up Jared's arm and settle it over his waist. Comfortable with both the position and the closeness, he threaded their fingers together against his stomach. "It's not that I don't want to," he confessed on a soft exhale. "I do. But it's... complicated." Jared couldn't see his face, but he screwed his eyes shut and bit his lip anyway, feeling his cheeks flush with embarrassment. "I'm not very experienced."

Jared paused for a moment, lifting himself up onto one elbow. "Jen," he said quietly, "that's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Of course it is," Jensen snapped. "I'd never even so much as kissed a guy before I met you. You don't have many opportunities when everyone you've ever met thinks you're going to Hell because your own father told them so."

"Hey, now," Jared said, his eyebrows rising, and he tugged at Jensen until the older man had rolled over so that they were face-to-face. "That isn't your fault; that's your dad's," he told Jensen firmly. "And all the dumb fucks who were stupid enough to listen to him and pass you up."

Jensen sighed, searching Jared's face for any sign that he was being mocked. He found none. "Oh yeah, it's their loss. I'm a grown man with the mindset of a virginal teenage girl who isn't ready for sex, Jay," he scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I'm sure most guys find that _so_ appealing."

"I'm not most guys," Jared countered, bringing one hand up to cup Jensen's jaw. "And I told you before, and I'll keep telling you: I'm happy with whatever you're comfortable with giving me."

"I might not be any good," Jensen muttered. "I might be terrible. Then what do we do?"

Jared couldn't help it; he laughed. "Then we practice," he assured Jensen with a smile. "And we get better."

Jensen pouted. "Don't laugh at me," he complained. "I'm baring my soul here, man. I could've just insisted on staying celibate our whole lives. Would've saved me the humiliation."

"I'm sorry," Jared apologized, still grinning as he leaned down to kiss Jensen. "But I'm serious. We can go as slow as you want, okay?"

"Okay," Jensen breathed, kissing Jared again. "We can do this a lot. I like this."

Jared smiled. "Good, me, too," he murmured, kissing Jensen softly for a moment before deepening it, nipping lightly at the other man's lower lip. "And that?"

"And that," Jensen agreed, before sweeping his tongue over Jared's lip in retaliation. They'd done the making out thing before, a lot, so this wasn't exactly unfamiliar territory, but it felt different somehow, like the air around them was charged with electricity. If Jared tried something new tonight, Jensen thought he just might let him. 

Jared hummed, letting Jensen take the lead in the kiss while he skimmed his hands down Jensen's arm and chest to push up under Jensen's shirt, avoiding getting too close to his waistband for the moment. "And now?"

Jensen made a pleased sound and melted into the touch. He was currently nibbling at Jared's jaw. "Feels good," he murmured, his breathing slightly laboured. "Keep going." 

Jared smiled, coaxing the material up, his hands never leaving Jensen's skin for longer than a heartbeat. "All the way?" he asked, determined not to push Jensen too far.

For a split second Jensen hesitated, unsure of what Jared was asking, but then he relaxed and smiled, sitting up. "All the way," he agreed as he let Jared pull his shirt off. So far so good. Being shirtless wasn't that big of a deal anyway; they lived in Texas, for Christ's sake. With that in mind, he didn't return to Jared's embrace just yet, but instead grasped the hem of his shirt. "You too?"

Jared nodded encouragingly, lifting his arms to make it easier for Jensen to pull the fabric off. "C'mere," he smiled, pulling Jensen closer, kissing him gently and letting his hands roam over Jensen's torso and arms, mapping the tattoos he knew where there.

This felt ridiculously good, and why had they only made out with all of their clothes on before now? Because Jensen was a prude, that was why. Well, not anymore—at least, not completely. He was experimentally kissing his way down the side of Jared's neck when he noticed that his boyfriend's fingers were on very specific parts of his skin. "Are they putting you off?" he asked curiously, even as he squirmed pleasantly beneath the attention. He thought he knew the answer anyway.

Jared hummed. "No. I like them." He leaned down to trace the top lines of one tattoo with his tongue, one hand running up Jensen's side and curling around so he could thumb over his nipple. "Good?"

"Goddamn," Jensen hissed, his eyes wide. The sensation had gone staight to his dick, which was definitely taking an interest in the proceedings. He'd had no idea his nipples were so sensitive. "Yeah, I'd say so."

Jared smirked, lowering his head until he could mirror his thumb's position with his mouth on the other side of Jensen's chest, flicking his tongue over the hardening bud.

Jensen groaned out a deep, rumbling, "Oh my _God_ ," and closed his eyes. He ran his hands over Jared's back, along his shoulders, up into his hair, needing to feel him; to get him closer. "Please..." He didn't even know what he was asking for, but his hips canted of their own volition and he couldn't quite help the sound that escaped him.

Jared moved to the other side, letting his free hand move to cup the hardening bulge in Jensen's pants. "All right?" he managed to get out, looking to Jensen for confirmation, reassurance.

"More than," Jensen panted. God, things were heating up really fast now, a lot faster than Jensen thought he should be comfortable with but this was _Jared_ , and truly the only thing on Jensen's mind just then was the fact that if someone didn't do something soon, he was going to come in his pants like the virgin he was. Unfortunately, the only words he seemed to be able to vocalise consisted of: "God, Jared..."

Jared couldn't stop his smirk if he wanted to, manhandling Jensen onto his back on the bed. "Tell me if you want me to stop, and I will," he promised, moving down Jensen's body until he could tug his boyfriend's— _lover's_ —pants and underwear off.

Now that was a shock, everything suddenly cool and exposed, and it was enough to jolt Jensen back into himself. "Jare," he gasped, reaching down to take Jared's hand. "I don't want to—not everything. But, some stuff. Okay?"

Jared paused, squeezing Jensen's hand reassuringly. "Whatever you're comfortable with," he said, echoing his earlier words with a smile. "What do you want, Jen?"

"I don't know," Jensen sobbed, beyond frustrated, and it was true. He didn't even know what it was okay to want. "Just do something, please. I'll tell you if I don't like it."

Jared grinned. "All right," he said, moving his free hand to lightly stroke over Jensen's cock before drifting lower, over the soft skin of his balls to press against the sensitive spot directly behind them. He avoided Jensen's hole for now; he didn't want to spook his boyfriend. "I'm going to suck you off," he warned, giving Jensen a chance to ask for something different.

Jensen was already in heaven just at this simple touch, and his dick actually jerked at Jared's suggestion, a blurt of precome sliding down his shaft. "Okay," he agreed. "Okay."

Jared smiled, lowering his head to lick a stripe up the underside of Jensen's cock, groaning softly. He almost couldn't believe this was happening, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. He placed a parody of a chaste kiss to the head, and then let his mouth open as he slid down.

"Jared!" Jensen cried out, his head slamming back against the pillows. _Holy shit!_ If he'd known blowjobs felt this good, he might have pretended to be straight once or twice during his youth; 'a mouth is a mouth', wasn't that what they said? Of course, he was glad that it was Jared doing this to him for the first time—or, he would be once he scraped himself off of the ceiling, which wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Completely out of his control, Jensen's hips bucked up, causing the head of his cock to hit the back of Jared's throat, and even through the fog of lust and pleasure he wanted to die. "Shit, shit, I'm sorry Jare, I'm sorr— _oh_! Do that again!"

Jared threw one arm over Jensen's hips, holding him still. "Stay," he admonished, but he was smiling. Lowering his head, he resumed his task, taking Jensen further into his mouth, forcing his gag reflex back and swallowing around the head.

Jensen's eyes rolled back into his head. He had never felt anything like this, and he trembled and shook as Jared worked him over. "Fuck, fuck," he babbled, one hand fisted in the sheets while the other slid into Jared's hair. "Jay. God, s'good. So good, Jay, I can't—" He was going to come. Oh, fuck, he was going to come like the blushing virgin he was, and he didn't even want to stop it. Jensen just managed to groan out a warning before he tipped over the edge and shattered into a million pieces.

Jared swallowed the first spurt, but pulled off, jacking Jensen through the rest of his orgasm, Jensen's come splattering his own stomach and Jared's hand. "Good?" he asked, grinning, although he was pretty sure he knew the answer, judging by the way Jensen was starfished bonelessly.

For a long moment Jensen couldn't even answer. His heart was racing and his breathing was ragged, and yes, he had experienced orgasms before, but none like that. When he came back to himself a little, the first thing he noticed was that Jared wasn't touching him anymore. "C'mere," he rasped, his fingers barely twitching in invitation. "Kiss me."

Jared grinned, obliging. He kissed Jensen firmly, bringing one hand up to cup his cheek. "Love you," he murmured, indulging in another, slower kiss.

"Love you, too," Jensen murmured, smiling dazedly against Jared's lips. "That was... beyond amazing. Should I return the favour?" This was one of the things that Jensen was certain he would suck at—no pun intended—but he was willing to try, for Jared.

Jared pulled back, looking at Jensen intently. "You don't have to," he said finally. "I'd be happy with just a handjob—don't think I'd last long enough for a blowjob, not this time."

Jensen let out a little breath of relief and gave Jared a soft smile. "I think I can handle that," he quipped, his hands already at the fly of Jared's jeans. Still uncoordinated and clumsy from his recent orgasm, it took him a few tries, but at last Jared was naked and Jensen was taking his dick in hand. He could do this; it wasn't anything he'd never done to himself. Tightening his fist around Jared's shaft, he started to stroke. 

Jared let out a soft hiss at the first contact; yeah, he wasn't going to last long at all. "Little tighter," he breathed, his hips bucking involuntarily.

"Okay," Jensen murmured, immediately tightening his grip further. "Sensitive, huh?" Oh, when he got a little bolder, he was going to have so much fun with that. For now, though, he focused on keeping it simple, twisting his wrist and flicking his thumb over the head in that way he knew he himself liked. "This okay?"

Jared could only nod, holding himself up so he didn't crush Jensen. "Fuck, god, yeah, like that," he panted, and later, he'd be embarrassed about how much he sounded like a cheesy porn star, but right now he didn't care about anything that wasn't Jensen's hand on his cock. "Jesus, Jen, you're good at this."

That probably said ridiculously embarrassing things about him, but Jensen couldn't help the pride that bloomed in his chest at Jared's words. Even if all else failed, at least he could do this. Jared looked absolutely beautiful, slowly breaking apart for him as he got closer and closer to the edge. "C'mon," Jensen purred, gently pressing his thumbnail into Jared's slit. "C'mon, Jay."

Annnd that was it; the nickname pushed Jared over the edge, and he came with a hoarse shout. His hips jerked as he spilled, and he was pretty sure his arms threatened to give out. When he could think again, he managed to fall to the side so he didn't crush Jensen underneath him. "Holy shit," he breathed, his whole body feeling like Harry's arm in _The Chamber of Secrets_. "That was one of the best orgasms in my life. Maybe the best."

Jensen laughed, light and pleased with an edge of relief. "Guess you'd better keep me around then," he teased, wiping them both off with his own t-shirt before snuggling in against Jared's side.

Jared only had the energy to chuckle and pull Jensen closer.

***

The next month and a half brought the onset of cheap spider and skeleton decorations, fake spiderwebs galore, and giant blow-up pumpkins. Jared was ecstatic; all candy was going on sale, and there was more of it than usual, plus he loved looking at the costumes in the store. "Jen, come on!" he called, nearly bouncing on his feet at the door to his house, waiting on Jensen to finish his fussing with his hair—something had happened to its latest coloring, and it hadn't come out properly, so his hair was two different colors. "Come on, come on, come on! I wanna see what everyone else dressed as!" Jared himself was wearing a fake-bloodstained shirt with slashed jeans, some of Gen's makeup applied around his eyes to make him look a bit spookier. Jen had refused to tell Jared what he was dressing as.

"Wait your goddamn hurry, you impatient bastard" Jensen called back, his words having taken on a slight lisp. He fixed his cape into place and spent another few moments fiddling with his hair before conceding defeat and leaving the room, making his way down the hall to Jared. "Hey, baby. You look great." He leaned in for a kiss but stopped a hair's breadth away, making an exaggerated smacking sound. "Can't smudge my lipstick," he said with a wink. 

The lipstick in question was bright red, as was the eyeliner, the shirt and the lining of the cape. The eyeshadow and the outside of the cape were black; the pants were shiny black leather. In addition to this, he had a tail, a pitchfork and a pair of horns nestled in his disastrous hair. That was supposed to be bright red too, but unless Jared had a death wish they weren't going to talk about it. 

Jared stared at Jensen. "Daaaamn," he drawled. "Thought the Devil was supposed to go down to Georgia, not Texas." He grinned. "I'm not complaining though."

Jensen grinned back, revealing a set of vampire teeth. "Glad you approve," he quipped. "Now let's go; the sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave."

"Aw, babe," Jared pouted, taking Jensen's hand as he opened the door. "Do you still not like any of my friends?"

"Jake's an asshole," Jensen said happily through his lisp, plastering himself against Jared's side. "But that's not why I want to leave early."

Jared chuckled. "We stay for at least an hour," he stipulated, kissing the end of Jensen's nose playfully. "Besides, I want to get some pictures of you and me together—we don't have very many."

Jensen rolled his eyes. "That's because I'm not the kind of person you want to have pictures of," he pointed out with a smile. "Tell someone you have a boyfriend, everyone thinks you're perfectly normal until you show them a photo."

"And you honestly think I care about that?" Jared challenged. "I want to be able to show you off even when you're not there."

Jensen laughed and dragged Jared into a kiss, lipstick be damned. "And that," he said, grinning, "is why I love you."

Jared laughed, kissing Jensen back. "C'mon," he said, opening the car door. "We're gonna be late."

***

They weren't too late, and Chad—an even bigger child than Jared when it came to Halloween—insisted on them going to walk around the neighborhood, checking out the decorations. About halfway through, Sophia aimed her camera at Jared and Jensen. "C'mon, gimme a good pose," she grinned.

Jensen, who had held back to look at some pretty awesome decorations outside a house and was a few steps behind Jared, had a split second to make a decision. He used it wisely, leaping up onto Jared's back, arms around his neck and legs around his waist. "Do _not_ drop me!" he yelled when Jared staggered dangerously, grinning at Sophia and her camera.

Jared laughed, and so did Sophia, quickly snapping several shots as Jared turned his head to grin at Jensen as he tightened his grip on the underside of Jensen's thighs.

"Okay, enough of the gay love," Chad broke in. "Let's keep walking!"

Sophia chuckled. "I'll email you the pictures," she promised Jared.

"Piggy back!" Jensen cried, cackling as he tightened his arms around Jared's shoulders. "C'mon, minion, get going!"

Jared reached one hand back to pinch Jensen on the ass. "Bossy," he grumbled, but he was smiling anyway as he started walking.

***

That night, Jared logged onto tumblr while Jensen was de-costumizing.  _Had one of the best days of my life with the love of my life today. He's amazing, and I still find it hard to believe he really loves me—but that's because I feel inadequate next to him sometimes. He's this bright, funny, snarky guy who makes my life so much better. I'm really lucky to have him, and he tells me the same about him._

Jensen wandered into the room a few minutes later, freshly showered and dressed in boxsers and a t-shirt. Jared was sat at the kitchen table on his laptop, but Jensen paid no attention to what was on the screen, sliding his arms around Jared's shoulders and bending to kiss the side of his neck. "Come to bed?" he breathed, letting his tongue follow the path laid by his lips. He'd become a lot more comfortable with the sexual side of their relationship in recent weeks. "Orgasms await."

Jared grinned, barely making sure his post had actually sent before closing the laptop and turning to tug Jensen in between his legs, still sitting in his chair. "Who needs a bed?" he teased suggestively.

Jensen was quick to straddle Jared's lap and ducked down to catch his mouth in a searing kiss. "You're such a genius," he sighed, his hands skimming down Jared's deliciously muscled arms. "And strong, too. Can't believe you carried me around half the night. _So_ hot."

Jared laughed, kissing Jensen again. "C'mon, let's see if we can find another use for my strength," he grinned. It was cheesy, yes, but Jared didn't care—he had a lap full of hot, needy Jensen.

They did find another use.

***

Jensen didn't get online until after work the next day. Jared was coming over soon to order pizza and watch movies, and he figured that he might as well check tumblr while he waited. He didn't do that so much these days. After only a brief glance at his dashboard, the first thing he did was go onto kirkandbones's page. The guy seemed to have patched things up with his partner since their tiff around the time of Mac's art show—in fact, things were going great, if the latest personal post was anything to go by. Excited, Jensen started to type out a message.

**_hey man, just seen the awesome news! i'm so happy for you, it's about time you went out and got yourself a special someone instead of spending all your time giving us losers advice. the only question i'm asking today is, why haven't we got a pic yet????? rectify this immediately! -P._ **

He probably wasn't the only person who had demanded a picture of k-b's mystery man, but hopefully that just meant they'd get one. Jensen made sure the anonymous option was checked and then sent the message before going off to get ready for his date.

***

The next day at work, Jared had to stifle a laugh when he saw how many messages he had demanding pictures of his "mystery man." Jared debated with himself for a moment before mentally shrugging, pulling up one of the pictures Sophia had emailed him from Halloween, and posted it with the caption: _So many people have asked about my man—Guess which one's which? ;)_

Grinning to himself, Jared closed out of tumblr and went back to work, wondering if he could convince Jensen to come by his place that evening; they hadn't finished watching all the movies they'd planned to the night before.

The tumblr app, Jensen decided, was the worst fucking thing ever. He'd spent most of the day refreshing kirkandbones's page in the hope that he would answer some of their messages and provide a photo, and he had _finally_ done so, but the goddamn picture wouldn't load. Jensen tried clicking on it, clicking out of the page and back onto it, clicking on a reblog of the post to view it on a different page—nothing was working. Cursing, Jensen terminated the app, refreshed his wifi connection—and thank God for Jeff and his generous free wifi in the coffee shop, or else Jensen's data usage would he through the roof by now—and tried again. This was more successful, and when the photo finally loaded, Jensen almost dropped his phone. He knew which one was which, all right. 

The first thing he did once he regained his composure was exit out of the app again and dial Jared's number. 

Jared smiled when he saw Jensen's face pop up on his phone. "Hey babe," he said easily, leaning back in his chair. "Good timing; I just got on my break. You're coming over tonight to finish those movies, right?"

"That's not why I called," Jensen dismissed, adrenaline thrumming through his body. "You wanna tell me why my picture is all over the internet?"

Jared froze. "You have a tumblr?" he blurted. "Wait, shit, sorry, not the point. And um, it's on the internet because all of my followers were begging for a picture of us, and..." Jared hung his head, rubbing one hand over his eyes. "And I didn't think to ask you first," he mumbled. "'M sorry."

"Damn right you're sorry," Jensen snapped. "I'm one of those followers, but I bet you already knew that, didn't you?"

Jared gaped like a fish. "What? Jesus, Jen, you really think that? Why?"

"Why?" Jensen yelled, suddenly furious. "Maybe because you used that stupid website to talk me into going to bed with you, asshole!" He ended the call without waiting for a response and left the shop, calling over his shoulder for Danneel to cover for him before slamming the door behind himself.

Jared was stunned; he knew which conversation Jensen was referring to. Jensen... Jensen seriously thought Jared had known who Priestly was, and had used tumblr to _manipulate_ Jensen into sleeping with him?

Jared thought he was going to be sick.

***

Ludicrously, the first thing Jensen did when he got back to his apartment was load the tumblr app and open up a message to k-b—and then he realised what he was doing. _Christ_ , he thought desperately. Not only had Jared used him, but he'd taken away the safety net he'd been relying on for over a year. _Well, fuck him_. Jensen started to type.

**_Dear kirkandbones, you've been there so much for me in the past, in more ways than one. I won't be bothering you again, but for now I have one last question. What do you do when you find out that your boyfriend manipulated you into sleeping with him, and your heart hurts so much you can't breathe? -Jensen._ **

He hit send without switching his identity to 'anonymous'

Jared choked when he saw the new message in his inbox that night. He'd spent the rest of the day in a daze, and if pressed, he honestly would not have been able to tell anyone what he had done.

Worrying his lower lip, Jared debated how to answer this—he could just call Jensen and tell him, but honestly... He didn't want to take the risk that Jensen would tell him to just fuck off for good.

Slowly, Jared began to type.

_Are you sure he manipulated you? He could have no idea how you got that idea—assuming you've told him what you think. Did he defend himself? Did you give him a chance to? It's never fun when you think your trust has been violated, but you need to make sure you have all of the facts before you make a decision. Informed decisions are the best ones, and if you go flying off half-cocked, then things never turn out well. I can't speak for you, but I can speak for myself—I've been in that position, where someone I thought trusted me turned out not to, because they thought I was taking advantage of them. It's not fun to be in either set of shoes. I would tell you to ask him what happened from his point of view before you decide what to do about it._

Jensen didn't see the response until an hour after it was posted, and he called Jared straight away. "I trusted you," he hissed as soon Jared picked up, his voice already wavering dangerously. "So here's your change to explain yourself, but don't you sit there whining all over the internet about how someone you thought trusted you turned out not to. I trusted you with everything."

"Did you?" Jared asked coldly. "Did you really trust me? Because from where I'm standing, it doesn't look like it. For Christ's sake, Jensen, as soon as you put the pieces together you accused me of manipulating you!" He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. "For the record, no, I didn't manipulate you. I had no clue you were Priestly; your situation was common enough that it never occured to me to even consider the possibility that you could be. The advice I gave to you— _all_ of it—was advice I would've given to any other person who asked me for it. I treated you no different than anyone else.

"You know me, Jensen. Do I really seem like the kind of guy to manipulate some for sex? This is a wild coincidence, and nothing more." Jared sighed softly. "I don't know how I can prove to you that I'm telling the truth, Jensen."

Jensen didn't know when he'd started crying; just that his cheeks were wet and his eyeliner was likely ruined. He didn't have a clue what was going on anymore, but he wanted Jared with him while he worked it out. "Come over," he whispered into the phone. "Please come over."

Jared nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be right there." Jared hung up, and then snagged his coat before heading out the door. It only took him about five minutes to get to Jensen's apartment, and he knocked on the door when he arrived, out of breath. "Hey," he said softly when Jensen opened the door.

"Hey," Jensen returned, taking in Jared's appearance. He looked good, especially considering the mess Jensen was clearly in. Jensen sighed, shifting his weight and still holding on to the door. He really didn't want to do this in the hallway, where all of his nosy neighbours could hear them, but he knew that if he let Jared into his apartment he would cave immediately. "Tell me it's not true," he begged, looking up into Jared's eyes. "Tell me you didn't do what I think you did."

"I didn't; I wouldn't. I'm not that person," Jared said, aching to step closer. He didn't, though. "Jen, I swear to you that I did not manipulate you into having sex with me."

Jensen let out a breath he felt like he'd been holding since he saw the picture and threw his arms around Jared, dragging him into the apartment. "I'm sorry," he mumbled into his boyfriend's shirt once they were safely behind closed doors again. "I trust you, I swear. But I saw that stupid photo and it just made sense. It's the only thing that made sense."

Jared wrapped his arms around Jensen, burying his face in Jensen's neck. "Next time, just ask me, okay? I will never lie to you about something big like that." Knowing what he did about Jensen's history, Jared couldn't say he blamed Jensen for reacting the way he had—but it still hurt that Jensen had even seriously considered the possibility that Jared could do something like that.

"I promise," Jensen murmured, refusing to let go or to even look up at Jared. "I love you. I'm so sorry."

"I love you, too," Jared whispered, hugging Jensen just that little bit tighter. "I forgive you."

***

"Oh my God, you guys were amazing!" Jensen yelled, jumping off of Jared's lap to hug first Chris and then Misha. "I told you! I _told_ you!"

Chris' band had headlined a gig for the first time tonight. It had been a year since Jensen had doubted Jared and Jared had once again proven his worth. There were still times when both of them panicked and pulled away, but for the most part they were happy, deliriously so. As were Chris and Steve.

"We kicked motherfuckin' ass!" Chris shouted, dragging Steve in for a hard kiss before Jensen could hug him, too. "Drinks on me!"

Jared grinned, high-fiving Misha before wrapping his arms around Jensen's waist from behind, dropping a kiss to his shoulder. "You guys rocked," he told Chris.

Steve grinned at Jared and Jensen from where he had his arm around Chris's shoulder. "Thanks, guys. God, what a rush!"

"I bet," Jensen laughed, grinning. "Now take your man to get me a drink."

Chris and Steve wandered over to the bar, and Misha excused himself to call his wife, who had been unable to make it, leaving just Jared and Jensen to hold their table. Jensen turned in Jared's arms to kiss him. "Great night, huh?"

Jared smiled at Jensen, kissing him back. "Definitely," he murmured. "Kane is going to become one of the best bands ever."

"If anyone can do it, it's those guys," Jensen agreed. Whatever stage fright the boys had experienced back when they'd started out had long since disappeared. "You're coming over after this, right?"

Jared grinned. "Of course," he replied, kissing Jensen quickly. "Wouldn't miss it for the world.”

Just then, Chris and Steve reappeared with the drinks. "Get a room, homos!" Chris called cheerfully, winking at Steve. "More beer for us that way."

Jensen grabbed a bottle off the tray Steve had just set down on the table and leaned into Jared. "Later," he promised.

***

It was another hour before they left, pleasantly buzzed but not drunk, and Jensen was all for spending the rest of the night and a good part of the morning rolling around in bed with Jared. He tossed his keys onto the coffee table when they got into the apartment and wandered over to the phone to see if anyone had called. "If they ever leave the bar, Chris is staying at Steve's tonight," he called to Jared, who had gone straight into the kitchen. "So we won't be disturbed." There was one message saved to the machine, and Jensen hit play to listen while he took his shoes off. The sound of his mother's voice, cold and irritated, immediately filled the room.

"Jensen, it's me. I just found out that Mackenzie invited you and _that man_ to your father's sixtieth birthday party. In case you were thinking of coming, this is me withdrawing that invitation. It was a nice thought, but it's your father's big day, and he doesn't deserve to spend it in the company of sinners. Give my love to Christian."

The message ended, and Jensen was left staring helplessly at the phone as a tinny, recorded voice asked, "Would you like to save this message?". Jensen pushed a button, and the voice returned: "Message deleted."

Jared, as soon as he'd heard the tone of the message, had darted over to Jensen. He hovered worriedly until Jensen had deleted the message. "Jen?" he asked softly, taking a tentative step forward and laying a hand on Jensen's shoulder.

"Bitch," Jensen muttered, still staring at the phone. "We weren't going to come anyway." He covered Jared's hand with his own and turned to look at him. "Right? They can go screw themselves."

Jared tilted his head, studying Jensen. "They're your family," he said finally. "But yeah. Most of them can shove it." He was quiet for a moment. "Maybe you could invite Mac over sometime; she seems like she still cares about you." Jensen had told him what had happened when he'd gone for the art show, and while Jared already hated most of Jensen's family, he was cautiously optimistic about Mac.

Jensen nodded, sniffling. "Yeah, I think she'd like that," he agreed. "I know she wants to meet you. God knows what Mom and Dad would do to her, though."

Jared thought it over for a moment. "She's an adult, right? She can make her own choices. But she can't if you don't give her the option." He offered Jensen an encouraging smile, tugging him to his feet so Jared could pull him into a hug. "I love you, you know that? They don't deserve to have you in their lives if they can't see how amazing you are."

Jensen snuggled into Jared's chest, feeling warm and safe. "I am pretty awesome," he quipped, snorting a laugh. "And I love you, too. Which reminds me." He pulled back just enough to look up and meet Jared's gaze, his own expression tentative and hopeful. "Before the show tonight, Chris pulled me aside to tell me that he kind of isn't going to be living here anymore. So... do you want to move in with me?"

Jared let out a surprised laugh. "I was going to ask you the same thing," he admitted sheepishly, grinning at Jensen.

Jensen's face lit up with sheer elation, and he kissed Jared hard. "Fuck, I love it when we sync up," he laughed breathlessly, pressing his forehead to Jared's. "Let's do it, Jare. I don't even care where we end up; I'm just so sick of coming home to a bed without you in it."

Jared grinned, kissing Jensen quickly. "We can sort it out later," he murmured. "Right now, I can think of a _much_ better use of time."

Jensen smiled, slow and sultry. "I think that sounds like a great idea."

***

"Christ, I really hope we don't move anytime soon," Jared panted, depositing the last box onto the table. He turned to Mac, smiling.  "Thanks for your help," he said, offering her his hand. Without Mac, moving all of Jensen’s shit into Jared’s house would have been a lot harder.

Mackenzie ignored the hand in favour of pulling Jared into a hug. "Thank _you_ ," she told him sincerely. "I was ready to jump at any excuse to come down and meet the hottie Jensen managed to bag for himself. You're so good for him, I can tell."

"Hey, hands off my man," Jensen laughed as he came into the room. "Jare, have you seen the bed linen?"

"Oh, I took it into your room; I figured that's where you'd want it," Mac supplied. Her arms were still wrapped tightly around Jared's middle. 

Jensen smiled and grabbed a dish towel out of a box by his elbow. "Thank you, smart sister. Now get _your_ hands—" He whipped Mackenzie with the towel. "—off _my_ man."

Jared laughed and picked Mac up, setting her to the side as he moved over to Jensen. "Hey, keep abusing your sister, and she won't come back," he grinned, flicking Jensen's ear.

"Of course she will," Jensen insisted, but he dropped the towel in favour of stepping into Jared's arms. "Right?"

Mackenzie nodded enthusiastically. "Definitely. Believe it or not, you two are a lot more normal than Josh and his wife. It's refreshing."

Jensen blinked. "Josh got married?"

Mackenzie's face fell. "Oh my God, Jen, I'm so sorry," she gasped. "I know he said he didn't want you there, but I thought they would have at least told you!"

Jensen was quiet for a long moment, trying to process the fact that his big brother got married and didn't tell him, but at last he shook his head and gave Mac a smile. "It's okay," he told her, and he meant it. "We just won't tell them when we get married."

Jared went from being furious on Jensen's behalf to being stunned. "We're getting married?" he repeated dumbly.

Jensen's mouth dropped open, and then, given what had just come out of it, he snapped it shut. "Um," he stuttered, sounding strangled. "If—if you want to?"

Jared didn't know how Mac wasn't laughing her ass off; they _had_ to make a ridiculous picture, gaping at each other like they were. "Yeah. Yeah, I—I want to," he admitted, although Jensen's current expression was making him a bit leery.

Mackenzie was definitely laughing, a hand covering her mouth and her shoulders shaking with silent mirth, but neither man noticed. On Jensen's part, he was too busy climbing Jared like a tree, arms around his neck and legs around his waist. "Oh my God!" he laughed, peppering Jared's face with kisses. "Jared Padalecki, I'm gonna marry you!"

Jared laughed, grabbing Jensen's hips to hold him steady. "Yes, you are," he grinned. "We're gonna get married."

"We're gonna get married," Jensen repeated, soft and awed, and proceeded to kiss Jared breathless. 

When they eventually broke apart for air, Jared abruptly remembered Mackenzie's presence. "You're invited, by the way," he said, grinning at her over Jensen's shoulder.

"Gee, thanks," Mackenzie giggled. "How considerate of you, _Jared_."

"Shut up," Jensen sniped, but his grin was brighter than the sun. "I just got engaged; I'm allowed to be absent-minded."

Jared laughed, kissing Jensen again. "Yes, you are," he agreed. "But not for long; we've got a lot of planning to do, you know."

Jensen rolled his eyes. "Can you please just let me enjoy this?" he teased. "We can start planning tomorrow. Right now, I think we need to celebrate." 

"Chinese food and beer?" Mackenzie guessed, her eyes sparkling.

“Exactly.”

Jared grinned, kissing Jensen again. "Love you," he murmured, a smile curving his lips. Really, how did he get so lucky?

Jensen was asking himself the exact same thing.


End file.
